Fifa will continue consulting its member associations over plans to bring private investment into the World Cup and its other tournaments, despite a growing backlash led by Uefa.
The world governing body announced on Tuesday that it intended to create a $20bn (R329.79bn) subsidiary to manage the commercial and event operations of the World Cup and other Fifa competitions. Under the proposal, outside investors would be offered stakes of up to 20%.
The planned company, Fifa Forward Enterprise, would oversee the running of those commercial and event activities.
However, the proposal has been strongly criticised by regional confederations, who said they had not been properly informed about the plan to introduce private investment into football’s global competitions.
Fifa said on Friday that inaccurate reports in the media had interrupted its consultation process, but insisted that it would now proceed with discussions involving its member associations.
“Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each member association (MA) has the ability to express its vote based on facts,” Fifa said in a statement.
The announcement came after Uefa voted on Thursday to boycott all Fifa tournaments, together with its 55 member nations.
Uefa, European football’s governing body, has accused Fifa of putting the “soul” of the sport up for sale through the investment proposal. The organisation’s position represents the most direct opposition so far to Fifa’s plan to restructure the commercial operation of its major competitions.
Fifa rejected the suggestion that football was being sold and said its consultation process was intended to allow each of its 211 member associations to consider the proposal individually.
“Nobody is selling football. This is not something Fifa would ever entertain,” Fifa said. “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.”
The governing body said the consultation would allow each member association to make a decision based on the available facts, rather than on what it described as incorrect media reports.
The dispute centres on Fifa’s plan to create Fifa Forward Enterprise and give external investors the opportunity to acquire minority stakes of up to 20%. The subsidiary would be responsible for the commercial and event operations linked to the World Cup and Fifa’s other tournaments.
Regional confederations have said they were blindsided by the proposal, while Fifa maintains that all member associations should be able to examine the plan and take part in determining the organisation’s future.
Despite Uefa’s boycott decision and the criticism from other parts of the game, Fifa said the consultation process would move forward.
