Overview
- Gianni Infantino advanced a plan called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to open parts of FIFA’s commercial operations, including World Cup revenues, to outside investors before the proposal was publicly disowned.
- The proposal provoked sharp opposition from member bodies, especially UEFA, which said the plan risked giving a small circle of insiders lasting stakes in FIFA’s most valuable assets.
- Joshua Kushner, whose firm Thrive Capital had worked on the proposal, said Monday that he would not have taken part if he had foreseen the scale of the backlash and defended the project’s stated aim of broader capital distribution.
- UEFA has moved the dispute into courts by preparing a Swiss complaint for 'gestion déloyale' (mismanagement) and asking a New York judge for permission to compel documents and testimony from Kushner and Thrive Capital.
- The legal escalation raises fresh questions about Infantino’s ability to hold the FIFA presidency ahead of the March 2027 election and highlights wider concerns among federations about private control of football’s commercial rights.