00:00I mean, this UEFA-FIFA standoff is a big one.
00:03If this continues, it's likely that women's events will be the first real testing battleground for it.
00:08I mean, how do you feel about that?
00:09Does it prove the importance of the women's game or does it just bring unwanted pressure?
00:14Well, yeah, I think the women's game is an integral part of global football now,
00:20you know, whether that's the World Cup or the European Championship.
00:22So that includes UEFA.
00:24But I think UEFA's stance, I think, really shows the lack of consultation,
00:31the completely, you know, the diametrically opposed positions for UEFA and for FIFA
00:36and the fact that Infantino seems to be doing things and making decisions
00:42without the consultation of major member associations like UEFA.
00:46And frankly, I think once UEFA is not on board, the value of the World Cup diminishes anyway.
00:52The last, out of the last four teams at the World Cup, three were European.
00:58So I think UEFA's protest means that these proposals cannot go forward, unfortunately.
01:06I mean, did you have concerns from the start?
01:08What kind of impact does this have on competitions if the Infantino plan for Decauil that goes through?
01:14Well, look, I think the privatization and commercialization of football has been happening for a long time.
01:20And the proposal in and of itself to sell the World Cup to private investors,
01:26I think, is a continuation of what we've already seen.
01:29I think where there's a big problem is the affiliation with politics
01:34and the fact that it's, you know, Trump's associates that might benefit,
01:38who might be the private investors.
01:40That's where I think the integrity of football becomes questioned.
01:44There are rules around fit and proper persons tests.
01:47There's rules around who can own in football.
01:50And I think that's where, you know, you really question the integrity of the sport.
01:55Fans are becoming much more isolated from any of the decisions that FIFA are making.
02:00I think from a PR perspective, FIFA should really start thinking about the fans.
02:05If they came out and said, right, we're going to generate four billion from this commercial proposal
02:10and we can subsidize tickets for the next World Cup,
02:14it gets received in a much different way because you're centering the fans.
02:18I think what we're having is a conversation about a billionaire class taking over football
02:23and the stakeholder fans and some of the member associations get completely isolated.
02:28I mean, if you look at the commercialization, do you worry about it?
02:31I mean, is it ticket prices we should worry about?
02:33About, you know, how often these competitions?
02:35Competitions, like there's a whole ecosystem that we have now that could potentially change.
02:39Well, if you look at the last World Cup, you know, fans were outpriced.
02:43You know, I was there in the U.S.
02:46and a lot of people could not afford to even go to the games.
02:49So that needs to be taken into consideration.
02:52Whenever there is a proposal to generate more money,
02:55how does that impact the fans who are the center of the sport, right?
02:59So I would like to see that, you know, for the next World Cup,
03:02okay, generate money commercially, that's fine.
03:05That's what football has done for many, many years.
03:07But how can that benefit the fan?
03:11How can that subsidize tickets for the fans so that everybody becomes more on board
03:15and there's more of a collective approach rather than it feels as if it's benefiting,
03:19you know, the sort of billionaire class and politicians and it feels very isolated.
03:24I think that's where Infantino has gone wrong.
03:27There has to be more of a consultation around the fans but also around, you know,
03:32the member associations, the important member associations like UEFA.
03:35Do you think CAF, which is the African UEFA, will vote the same or, you know,
03:42have similar feelings to UEFA?
03:43Well, I think the proposal is that, you know, if the member associations get on board,
03:4740 million will be distributed from this proposed plan.
03:5140 million to African member associations is very, very important for the sort of development of football
03:59and the infrastructure.
04:0140 million to the African member associations is very different to 40 million to UEFA.
04:06So it's all relative.
04:07And so I'm not surprised to see CAF hold back a little bit and say, actually, you know,
04:13let's have a conversation because I think the money that's proposed actually could really be beneficial
04:18for African nations.
04:20But ultimately, if UEFA are not on board, the World Cup diminishes anyway, I think, the value.
04:28And so I would like to see a different iteration of this idea.
04:32All member associations get back to the table, come up with a different proposal
04:36that feels a lot more collective in its approach.
04:40Do you think FIFA and Gianni Infantino will back down?
04:43I think they have to.
04:44I think if UEFA have taken such a strong stance, and as I said, UEFA are very, very important
04:50to the overall value and position of global football, I think they have to change.
04:57The proposal has to change.
04:59And they have to sort of come together and come up with a different proposal.
05:03I would like to see the fans considered much more in whatever the new proposal is.
05:08As we saw a few years ago with the Super League proposals, it got widely rejected, same sort
05:14of outrage.
05:15But there was a different iteration that came with the Champions League a few years later.
05:19Champions League changed, then the Club World Cup changed.
05:22So I think from this position, you can come up with something better that feels more of
05:26a collective approach.
05:27And I hope that, you know, the fan as a stakeholder is considered within that.
05:32And you've been such an icon right on this field, but also what you've done for women's
05:36sports and investing in it, how do you see, where's the money coming from now?
05:40I mean, away from what FIFA is trying to do.
05:42Do you see more, you know, big sports investments in women specifically coming from the US or
05:49Asia or how's that dynamic changing?
05:51Well, you mentioned, obviously, that I'm part of Mercury 13, a global women's investment
05:56group, multi-club investment group.
05:58Private investment is coming into the women's game, which is very, very exciting.
06:02It hasn't always been that way.
06:03Lots of multi-club investment, lots of, you know, new investors coming into the sport,
06:09lots of brands, commercial activity.
06:12So it's in a really healthy place.
06:14It's very exciting to be part of.
06:17You know, great leagues like the US, obviously the WSL in the UK are really growing rapidly.
06:25You know, there's development in Africa as well.
06:28Women's AFRICON is currently playing now.
06:30So there's lots of growth on the women's side that is now part of the wider, you know,
06:36football ecosystem globally as well.
06:38I mean, there's, there's, I know there's concerns about, you know, players just playing
06:42too many games and risking injury.
06:44If you look at the ecosystem, what's your main concern about how we're playing football
06:48right now?
06:49Yeah, that, that always has to be a consideration.
06:51You know, the player welfare, the amount of load on players with the new competitions coming
06:59in, that has to always be balanced with, you know, the desire to generate more revenue
07:05and, and, and build more competition.
07:08Women's World Cup is next year, you know, which is going to be very exciting in Brazil.
07:13But the players always have to, you know, you, we always have to keep an eye on the fact
07:17that the players play so many games now, particularly players at the highest level are playing in
07:21the Champions League as well.
07:22I mean, a couple of years ago, everyone was talking about the Super League and there was
07:27a real uproar from fans.
07:28Do you think something like that could, could ever come back in a different iteration?
07:33No, I don't think so.
07:34I think, I think the, the, the idea that sort of you can have breakaway leagues, I just don't
07:40think it works within an ecosystem that's so historic, you know, football is such, such
07:47tradition.
07:48And so I think whenever there's new ideas, there has to be a collective approach.
07:54You cannot have, you know, one, you know, one president doing something over here and,
07:59and someone doing something over here.
08:01It has to be more of collective consultation.
08:02I think that's what, where Infantino has gone wrong on this occasion, lack of consultation,
08:08but it does allow you to come back to the table and have a different conversation and
08:13say, okay, how do we get to this outcome of more commercial revenue for the World Cup?
08:18And, and how does that benefit all of us, including the fans?
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