'Nobody Is Selling Football': FIFA Defends USD 4.2 Billion World Cup Investment Plan Amid UEFA & Concacaf Opposition

New Delhi: FIFA defended its proposal to allow private investors to acquire ownership interests in the World Cup and other competitions, saying "nobody is selling football" and claimed the consultation process had been "disrupted by incorrect media reports".

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which represents 55 member associations and organizes the continent's leading club competitions, has announced that its 55 members will not participate in FIFA competitions till the proposal to allow private investors to acquire ownership interests in the World Cup and other competitions remains in place.

Moreover, Concacaf also convened a meeting of the presidents of its 41 Member Associations, together with its President, Council members, and its FIFA Council members, and rejected proposal.

"We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation," FIFA said in a statement on Friday. "Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports."

"We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA has the ability to express its vote based on facts. Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain," it added.

FIFA's proposal, announced earlier this week, involves creating a commercial subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), that would bring together its commercial rights, including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing, with the operational delivery of its tournaments. It plans to raise USD 4.2 billion by selling minority, non-controlling stakes in the entity, which would initially be valued at around USD 20 billion.

FIFA has maintained that it would retain complete control over football governance, competitions, the international match calendar and all sporting and regulatory matters. It has also argued that the plan would significantly increase development funding for its 211 member associations.

On Friday, FIFA said, "FFE has been proposed solely to ensure that all FIFA Member Associations (MAs) have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football in their respective countries, and that this does not come at the cost of either the spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself."

The proposal requires the support from 106 from its 211 members in favour for the proposal to go through and the UEFA and Concaf members combined make up 96 of those.

"Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs around the world. Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA," said FIFA.

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