FIFA’s controversial plan to sell a piece of its business empire to outside investors has collapsed following an open revolt by soccer officials worldwide — and a major rift among top FIFA executives, The Post has learned.
FIFA had aimed to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling a roughly 20 percent stake in the group, valuing the new arm at $20 billion. The deal, which involved a firm run by New York venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, is dead, four sources familiar with the matter said.
“They are not the feeling this. There is no way they want to continue to be involved in this mess,” said a source briefed on the collapsed deal. “Kushner will figure out another way to get involved in this space. This is becoming a brand nightmare.”
Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, the White House diplomatic adviser and son-in-law of Donald Trump
The unraveling caps a brutal week for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who pushed the plan to spin off FIFA’s commercial rights into a new for-profit arm that drew howls of protest across Europe and a slew of overwhelmingly negative media coverage.
The failed proposal called for FIFA, a nonprofit under Swiss law, to transfer its cash-making assets — TV rights, sponsor deals, licensing, and ticketing — into a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise.
Kushner’s firm, Thrive Capital, was set to anchor the deal, with JPMorgan advising.
Infantino gave FIFA’s 211 member nations until Sept. 19 to back the deal, dangling payouts of up to $40 million each. Critics called it a bribe with a deadline.
But FIFA and its bankers badly misread the mood in Europe, where the sport’s richest clubs and leagues bring in most of the game’s revenue.
“This would be the (temporary) end of global football,” one insider close to Infantino said.
UEFA’s threat was blunt: None of its teams would play in any FIFA event until the plan was scrapped in full — and until FIFA promised never again to open the game to private owners.
Without stars from England, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy, a World Cup loses its audience. Broadcasters won’t pay top dollar, and sponsors will pull their cash.
That gutted the deal’s value.
“They tested the waters and have a clear response,” one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, close to Infantino told The Post.
Thrive has already begun talks about dropping the idea, three sources said. JPMorgan does not expect the deal to go through, according the insiders. closing their files.
“They don’t believe Kushner will stay the course,” said one person directly briefed on the matter. “They are pulling the plug.”
Even as the deal collapsed behind the scenes, FIFA publicly insisted Friday that “nobody is selling football.
With outside money off the table, FIFA will keep selling its own rights in-house, pointing to its money-spinning haul from this summer’s 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
One source close to the ill-fated deal said the Zurich-based organization could try way of “formalizing and using their assets in a commercial way” through its existing non-profit entity.
“I think they are trying to professionalize some of aspects of world football,” the person briefed on the matter said.
The deal’s death sends a clear message to private equity firms circling global sports: Soccer’s political walls remain high.
The debacle now threatens Infantino’s grip on the presidency.
European soccer chiefs threatened to boycott the World Cup and other events. Members of FIFA’s North American bloc, Concacaf, rejected the plan. On Friday, the Asian Football Confederation joined the opposition.
The backlash also reached Infantino’s inner circle.
FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour told The Associated Press on Friday that senior staff felt “deceived” by Infantino’s lack of transparency.
“The project that has sparked so much controversy and debate is not a FIFA project,” Lamour said. “It is the project of one person.”
Lamour blasted a “lie by omission over many months,” adding that the ordeal showed “a lack of trust, a lack of transparency, a lack of discernment, a lack of good governance. And a serious lack of respect.”
He acknowledged his outspokenness could lead to his firing.
“Then so be it,” he said. “At least I’ll sleep well tonight.”
Also on Friday, Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser and a former Goldman Sachs partner, resigned over the proposal.
“I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” Cordeiro said in a statement.
Many member nations view the fight as a vote of confidence ahead of March’s presidential election.
UEFA is quietly hunting for a challenger, with Paris Saint-Germain chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi drawing strong backing. At least 20 nations are reportedly discussing pulling their letters of support for Infantino.
Lamour, the FIFA executive, all but urged them on, saying “the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions.”
