“Significant damage”: Sharp criticism of Infantino’s sales plans

“Football doesn’t belong to the investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands, who stand on the sidelines, week after week, rain or shine,” said British Prime Minister Burnham in an Instagram video. “The World Cup is not a product, it is the greatest competition in the world. It has never belonged to anyone to sell. Football has always belonged to the supporters and always will.”

Blatter dislikes plans

In a post on X, Blatter once again criticized his successor Gianni Infantino and its relationship to US President Donald Trump. “The close relationship between the FIFA President and the US President has taken on a financial dimension that is causing significant damage to football. Nobody has the right to sell our sport,” wrote the 90-year-old Swiss. The British newspaper “Times” had previously reported that people close to Trump’s US government were also included in the plans.

Immediately after the plans became known, the European Football Union expressed its opposition to it. “The soul and governance of football are not a commodity – especially not when there is a complete lack of transparency about who benefits financially from it. None of us own football. It is not for sale to FIFA,” said a UEFA statement.

UEFA vice-president: “We are going too far”

The Italian one UEFA vice-president Gabriele Gravina emphasized in an interview with the Ansa news agency: “We are going too far.” The balance that has been painstakingly built up over the years between football as a spectacle and football as a great popular passion is in danger of being swept away by a profit-oriented vision. “All confederations must act accordingly,” demanded the former Italian association boss. The English Football Association (FA) told the British broadcaster BBC that it had not known about FIFA’s plans before they were published.

According to FIFA, private investors will be able to acquire around 20 percent of the shares in the newly founded subsidiary FFE, whose value is initially set at a total of 20 billion dollars. The FFE bundles the commercial rights to FIFA competitions such as the Men’s and Women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup.

FIFA would remain the majority shareholder of the company and, according to its own statements, would continue to have control over the match calendar and all questions regarding the regulations. All 211 FIFA member associations are also set to receive smaller shares in the company, which could either be retained or sold.