- 1 week ago
Gianni Infantino’s global public profile has long been defined by bold promises, high-stakes diplomacy, and an unusually close relationship with political power. In the current climate, those traits have become especially visible in the way he appears to be positioning the FIFA World Cup as more than a sporting event. He is also presenting it as a political bridge, a commercial platform, and a status symbol for influential figures around Donald Trump. That strategy matters because the World Cup is no longer just a tournament of national teams. It is also a vehicle for influence, brand expansion, and geopolitical signaling. For readers tracking FIFA politics, World Cup marketing, and the overlap between sport and elite networks, the question is not only what Infantino wants to sell, but whom he wants to sell it to.
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00:00Gianni Infantino wants to sell a piece of the World Cup.
00:03Not tickets, not sponsorships, an actual ownership stake in the machine that runs it.
00:08And the buyers he's lined up all sit inside Donald Trump's orbit.
00:12So FIFA's president has a $20 billion plan on the table.
00:16A deadline on the calendar and a business partner whose last name is Kushner.
00:21Here's how he's trying to get it past the one group of people standing in his way.
00:25And why Europe just told him no.
00:27Gianni Infantino is trying to sell the World Cup to Trump's circle.
00:32And this is how it's playing out.
00:34Let's get straight into it because this is moving fast.
00:37On Thursday, July 30, UEFA held an emergency virtual call with all 55 of its member federations.
00:44By the end of it, European soccer had made a decision that would have been unthinkable a year ago.
00:50UEFA resolved to unequivocally reject FIFA president Gianni Infantino's plan
00:55to raise $20 billion of outside investment.
00:58With a share sell-off to a private equity group.
01:01And it's not just a strongly worded letter.
01:04The decision means that major nations including Germany, France, England and world champions Spain
01:09would not participate in the men's or women's World Cups.
01:13Sit with that for a second.
01:14Spain, the reigning world champions, England, Germany, France.
01:18Off the World Cup, potentially, over a business deal.
01:21So what is this deal exactly? Infantino revealed plans earlier this week
01:26for the sale of a stake in FIFA Forward Enterprises, FFE.
01:30That would raise huge funds in exchange for influence over future World Cups,
01:35including broadcasting and commercial deals linked to the tournament.
01:38Basically, FIFA wants to take everything that makes money off the World Cup.
01:43Broadcast rights, sponsorships, ticketing, licensing and dump it into one new company.
01:48Then sell a slice of that company to outside investors.
01:52And here's the part that got the internet's attention immediately.
01:55Tech investor Joshua Kushner, whose elder brother, Jard Kushner,
01:59is married to President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump,
02:03is in talks to lead the transaction through his Thrive Eternal Fund.
02:06Not just any investor, a Kushner.
02:09The brother of the man who sat in the Oval Office as a senior advisor to the sitting president.
02:15FIFA isn't hiding who's helping broker it either.
02:17The proposal, backed by American investor Josh Kushner and the bank JP Morgan,
02:23would trigger over $80 million in payouts to each of FIFA's 211 member associations between now and 2037.
02:31That's the sweetener.
02:33That's how Infantino is trying to get 211 different national federations,
02:38most of whom have never seen this kind of money in their history, to say yes.
02:42And he's not giving them forever to think about it.
02:45Infantino has set a SEPT-19 deadline for associations to accept the plan.
02:50Six weeks, that's it, sign by then or the number changes.
02:54Now why would Infantino need a Kushner and JP Morgan specifically?
02:58Because this isn't a small ask, FIFA is putting a number on the whole operation.
03:02FIFA is valuing the new commercial venture at around $20 billion.
03:07$20 billion for a company that doesn't fully exist yet.
03:11It's a shell being built specifically to hold the rights to the World Cup and sell a piece of them
03:16off.
03:17The mechanics, according to reporting from the Times, go like this.
03:21FIFA is currently in discussions with JP Morgan to raise billions of dollars by offloading roughly 20% ownership of
03:28the new entity to external investors.
03:3020%, not a majority.
03:32Infantino keeps saying that part loud, FIFA stays in control.
03:36But a fifth of the World Cup's commercial engine is still a fifth.
03:40And the Kushner connection isn't some side note buried in a footnote.
03:44Multiple outlets are naming him as the lead.
03:47Joshua Kushner, whose older brother, Jarred Kushner, is married to Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump,
03:53is in discussions to spearhead the deal through his Thrive Eternal fund.
03:57And it's not like JP Morgan is a passive lender here either, they built the pitch.
04:02JP Morgan has been FIFA's chief advisor on this project.
04:05With Thrive Eternal set to lead the proposed investor group for FFE.
04:10So you've got the sitting president's son-in-law's brother,
04:13positioned to lead the money behind the biggest sale in the history of the sport.
04:17At the exact moment, the sitting president has spent the last year appearing everywhere,
04:22alongside the man selling it.
04:24That's the pitch, that's why UEFA didn't wait around.
04:27That's why 55 federations got on a call in one afternoon, and,
04:32according to people briefed on it, over 50 associations took the floor,
04:36and expressed unanimity in their anger, at Infantino's proposals.
04:40This wasn't a split room.
04:41This was almost every single voice in European football saying the same thing on the same day.
04:47And UEFA didn't just vote quietly and move on.
04:50They put out a statement built to be read out loud, one line at a time.
04:55The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product.
04:58It is one of football's greatest sporting legacies.
05:01It has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent.
05:07No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors.
05:11The World Cup is not for sale.
05:13That's the headline.
05:14Now let's back up and figure out how Infantino got here.
05:18And why his circle looks the way it does.
05:20To understand why Infantino is leaning this hard into Trump's circle for a deal this size.
05:26You have to understand how close that relationship already was before any of this
05:30stake sale talk started.
05:32This isn't new.
05:33Infantino and Trump have been public about each other since 2016.
05:37Infantino and Trump have made their friendship highly public,
05:40since they were both first elected in 2016.
05:43Two men who took over their respective institutions around the same time.
05:47Both loud about it.
05:48Both good at turning a faux d'op into a headline.
05:51When Trump came back into office, that relationship didn't cool off.
05:55It accelerated.
05:56Trump's return to the White House in January 2025 strengthened that relationship.
06:02With the World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico looming on the horizon.
06:07Infantino needed a US president who'd cooperate on visas, security, and diplomatic logistics for
06:13the biggest World Cup ever held.
06:15Trump needed a stage, it worked out for both of them.
06:18So Infantino lined all the way in.
06:21Infantino was invited to Trump's inauguration ceremony and has been a regular White House visitor.
06:27Cultivating his bromance with the Republican, even joining official visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
06:33That's not a courtesy meeting, that's a standing invite.
06:37Then there's the Peace Prize.
06:38When Trump didn't get the Nobel he'd been chasing, FIFA solved that problem itself.
06:43When it became clear that Trump would not win the Nobel Peace Prize, FIFA created its own Peace Prize.
06:49Which Infantino presented to the president, at the World Cup draw in Washington in December.
06:54An award invented by a soccer federation, handed to a head of state, for peace.
06:59Nobody in world football had ever seen anything like it.
07:03And then FIFA moved into Trump's actual real estate.
07:07FIFA has opened office space in Trump Tower in New York City.
07:10Placing soccer's global governing body in a building tied to the president's family business.
07:16Rent, presumably, paid to a company connected to the president.
07:19By the organization that president keeps praising in public.
07:23Infantino has appeared with Trump at the White House, at FIFA events, and at the World Cup draw.
07:28It didn't stop at appearances either.
07:31Financial disclosures put numbers on the friendship.
07:33The disclosure shows Infantino gave Trump 10 tickets, valued at $15,000.
07:39To last July's FIFA Club World Cup final, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
07:44And then the World Cup itself happened.
07:46And the closeness turned into something with actual competitive consequences.
07:50During the tournament, there was a moment that summed up the whole dynamic.
07:54The 2026 World Cup was rocked by controversy after Donald Trump personally phoned FIFA President
08:01Gianni Infantino to complain about US striker Folarin Balogun's red card.
08:06And FIFA didn't just take the call and move on.
08:09FIFA extraordinarily suspended the ban, which as you can imagine, caused global outrage.
08:14A sitting president called up the head of a global sports governing body over a red card.
08:20And the ban got lifted.
08:21That's not a friendship anymore.
08:23That's influence with a phone number attached.
08:26By the end of the tournament, Trump was already floating Infantino for something bigger.
08:31Following the tournament, Donald Trump proposed nominating Gianni Infantino
08:35as the next UN Secretary General.
08:38Praising his sports diplomacy and unique ability to unite global audiences.
08:42A soccer administrator floated for the top job at the United Nations by the President of the United States.
08:49People inside the sport noticed.
08:51One UEFA insider put it bluntly to reporters.
08:54Describing just how far the FIFA boss would go to stay close to the Oval Office.
08:59That if it were within Infantino's power to hand Trump an honorary World Cup medal,
09:04he'd have already done it.
09:05And the source added something worth sitting with.
09:07This wasn't really a friendship at all.
09:09It seems to be more of a power play rather than them being the best of mates.
09:14That power play was staged for the cameras during the tournament itself.
09:19Infantino consistently aligned himself with the Oval Office.
09:22Even going so far as to co-host a joint World Cup reception at Trump Tower
09:27and clearing the way for Trump to hand over the trophy.
09:30And the picture from the final tells the whole story without needing a caption.
09:34US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino
09:38hold the FIFA World Cup winner's trophy.
09:41Before handing over to Captain Rodri of Spain at the award ceremony.
09:45Following the FIFA World Cup 2026 final match between Spain and Argentina
09:49at New York New Jersey Stadium.
09:52A US President at a soccer trophy ceremony for a game his country didn't even win.
09:57Holding the trophy with the FIFA President.
09:59So when the stake sale plan surfaced with a Kushner attached to it.
10:03Nobody in soccer was shocked by the name.
10:05This was the exact circle Infantino had been building for two years.
10:09He didn't go find Trump's world for this deal.
10:12He was already living in it.
10:14That closeness has consequences now beyond just optics.
10:17American lawmakers are watching.
10:19Rep. Jamie Raskin has requested FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
10:23To provide records detailing FIFA's contacts with President Donald Trump.
10:28And his administration by August 9.
10:30And this isn't a narrow request about one phone call.
10:33The inquiry extends beyond a phone call between Trump and Infantino during the World Cup.
10:39Involving requests for communications dating back to 2024.
10:43Visitor logs for FIFA's offices and records of any visits.
10:47That's the backdrop the stake sale landed on.
10:50A relationship that was already being scrutinized in Congress.
10:53A red card call that already made headlines.
10:56A Trump Tower lease already raising eyebrows.
10:59And then, right on top of it.
11:00A $20 billion deal with a Kushner at the center.
11:04Now let's get into the actual numbers Infantino is dangling.
11:08Because this is the part designed to make 211 federations forget about who's holding the checkbook.
11:14The core structure is simple even if the name isn't.
11:17FIFA Forward Enterprise.
11:18The plan would see FIFA set up a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise.
11:23That would bundle all the money-making operations associated with the Soccer World Cup.
11:28Including broadcast rights, sponsorship, ticket sales and licensing fees.
11:33And sell a significant stake in the new operation to private investors.
11:38Every dollar the World Cup generates funneled into one company.
11:41With outsiders owning a chunk of it.
11:44Infantino isn't shy about the scale of the ask, either.
11:47He's telling members this is transformative money.
11:50This new proposal would see a new entity, called FIFA Forward Enterprises, FFE.
11:55Take over all commercial operations for tournaments such as the World Cup and the Club World Cup.
12:01And FIFA members can make up to $40 million if they agree before a September deadline.
12:06And there's a second figure floating around that's even bigger, depending on which reporting you look at.
12:11Infantino told members a funding package of $10 billion will be made available should members sign up to his plans.
12:19Compared to a package of $2.7 billion if they do not.
12:23That gap $10 billion versus $2.7 billion is the entire sales pitch in one sentence.
12:29Sign and your federation gets a windfall, don't sign and you get a fraction of it.
12:34For federations in smaller footballing nations, that difference isn't abstract.
12:39It's stadiums, academies, salaries, entire programs that either get funded or don't.
12:44This is exactly why FIFA is confident it can get this through.
12:48Even with UEFA screaming no.
12:50Most of FIFA's 211 members aren't in Europe.
12:54Most of them don't have Spain's television deal or Germany's academy system or England's Premier League revenue.
13:01For a federation in a smaller market, an $80 million payout between now and 2037 isn't a rounding error.
13:09It's transformative money they've never had access to before.
13:13That's the game Infantino is playing.
13:16He doesn't need every federation on board.
13:18He needs a majority.
13:20Because the structure of FIFA voting means Europe's 55 votes.
13:24Loud as they are, are still a minority in a room of 211.
13:28Where's the money actually coming from though?
13:31Let's follow it.
13:32JP Morgan built the financial structure.
13:35JP Morgan was reportedly brought in early this year to develop a way
13:39for FIFA to monetize its media rights and pitch it to potential investors.
13:44This wasn't a rushed idea cooked up over a weekend.
13:47The idea itself has apparently been sitting there for over a year.
13:51Bloomberg reported that the idea for FFE first arose last year.
13:55During private discussions between Infantino and Joshua Kushner,
13:59the brother of Trump's son-in-law jarred Kushner.
14:03That timeline matters.
14:04This wasn't a reaction to the World Cup's success.
14:07The plan predates the tournament, even finishing.
14:11Infantino and Kushner had apparently been talking about this well before.
14:15The sport's governing bodies had any idea it was coming.
14:18And Kushner's vehicle for the money has a name and a purpose,
14:22built specifically for this kind of play.
14:24Thrive Eternal, a company launched by Kushner,
14:26is expected to lead the investor group for FFE.
14:29Thrive is a permanent capital investment firm, created earlier this year.
14:34To buy and hold minority stakes in sports teams and other iconic brands.
14:38Buy and hold minority stakes in iconic brands.
14:41That phrase alone tells you the World Cup has been sorted by the people structuring this deal
14:47into the same category as a sports franchise or a media asset.
14:51Something you can own a piece of.
14:54Infantino's defenders point to the fine print to say this isn't a loss of control.
14:59Investors don't get a seat at FIFA's actual table.
15:02Investors in FFE would not have a seat on FIFA's council or be able to vote in FIFA's Congress.
15:08And there's no promise of profit flowing back to them either, according to some reporting.
15:13The Guardian also reported that investors would not receive dividends from the scheme.
15:18So what exactly are investors buying, if not votes and not dividends?
15:22Influence over the commercial machinery.
15:25Broadcast negotiations, sponsorship deals,
15:28the pricing and packaging of the tournament's biggest revenue streams.
15:31Even without a formal vote in FIFA's halls.
15:34That's a different kind of control. Quieter but real.
15:38And this isn't Infantino's first attempt at something like this.
15:42Long before FFE had a name, he tried something similar.
15:46Back in 2018, he pushed FIFA's council to approve a giant private deal.
15:50This one worth $25 billion over 12 years.
15:54Covering an expanded club World Cup and a global nation's leg.
15:58The deal first came to light last March when Infantino asked FIFA council to clear him to negotiate.
16:04A $25 billion, 12-year offer for Global Nations League and expanded club World Cup.
16:10That deal also came wrapped in secrecy.
16:13Infantino said he had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
16:17And could not share any further details with council about what or whom they would be welcoming aboard.
16:22Council members couldn't even be told who the money was coming from.
16:26European members pushed back hard then too.
16:29European members of council, including German DFB President Reinhard Grindel, objected.
16:35That earlier plan reportedly went further than anyone initially let on.
16:40Also handed over would be all FIFA's commercial and marketing rights.
16:44Including those relating to the crown jewels of the World Cup.
16:48Broadcasting archives, satellite rights, merchandising, the whole commercial-backed catalogue.
16:53That deal eventually died under the same kind of pressure UEFA is applying now.
16:58Which tells you something important.
17:00This isn't Infantino's first swing at bringing outside money into FIFA's crown jewel.
17:04It's just the version that finally has a name attached that connects directly to the White House.
17:10By the time UEFA voted, the anger wasn't just coming from soccer people anymore.
17:15It had already spread into politics and it had already gotten personal.
17:18It had already spread into politics and everything that followed.
17:23House Judiciary Democrats didn't tiptoe around who they thought was really benefiting.
17:29FIFA, Donald Trump's favorite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports,
17:33is now going directly into business with the Trump family.
17:37The House Judiciary Democrats posted on X.
17:40They went further, tying it directly to the Kushner name and the Peace Prize and the Trump Tower lease all
17:46in
17:46one breath. Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren't enough.
17:51Now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a multi-billion dollar deal.
17:56With Jarred Kushner's brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
18:01That committee didn't just post about it either.
18:04They'd already been trying to get Infantino to answer questions before this deal even surfaced.
18:09The Democratic committee members said the proposal was an example of more oligarch corruption.
18:15After FIFA's use of dynamic pricing helped push World Cup ticket prices to unprecedented levels.
18:21And earlier that week, the group of lawmakers called on Infantino to sit for an interview.
18:26About deceptive ticket practices and alleged corruption between him and Trump.
18:31And it wasn't confined to American politics.
18:34Reaction came in from across the Atlantic, too.
18:37Britain's newly installed Prime Minister Wade, indirectly.
18:40Andy Burnham, who became British Prime Minister earlier this month after Care Starmer resigned,
18:46also criticized the proposal.
18:48Britain's culture secretary went further with a full-throated statement in support of the boycott
18:53threat itself. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy swiftly expressed her approval of UEFA's threat, stating,
19:00This is a principled decision that we strongly support. Football belongs to the fans,
19:05not billionaire investors. Enough is enough. It's time to take a stand to protect our game.
19:11Inside the sport, the criticism landed just as hard, and it came fast, before UEFA even formally met.
19:18La Liga's president fired off a warning shot on social media the day the news broke.
19:23The proposal has also drawn scathing criticism from various figures across the sport, including La Liga
19:29president Javier Tebas, who wrote on X, This does not look like reform. UEFA itself, even before the
19:35emergency call happened, had already accused FIFA of something specific and pointed. UEFA accused FIFA
19:42on Wednesday of using the sport to enrich themselves and their friends. That phrase, themselves and their
19:48friends, was clearly aimed at exactly the Kushner-JP Morgan circle everyone had just learned about. Once the
19:54emergency call actually happened, chaired by UEFA president Alexander Seferin, the statement that
20:00came out of it didn't hold back either. This crosses a line that football's governing institutions should
20:06never cross. UEFA said in a statement, UEFA takes it extremely seriously, so should every national
20:13football association. Seferin himself had actually been signalling, this fight was coming for weeks
20:19before the emergency call. In comments that showed just how seriously European federations
20:24were taking the threat of outside ownership, creeping into the sport. He told reporters flatly,
20:29that Europe could simply refuse to show up. We can decide not to play in it. Seferin had told the
20:35Times, As far as I know, the South Americans are on the same page. So good luck with a World
20:41Cup like
20:42that. That's not a small detail. South America being on the same page, means this isn't just a European
20:49objection dressed up as a global one. If South American federations line up alongside UEFA's 55.
20:56Infantino isn't just facing a boycott from Europe, he's facing the possibility that entire continents
21:02sit out. Congress, meanwhile, was already circling before any of this stake sale news broke, digging
21:08into the Trump-Infantino relationship on a separate track. The Raskin letter wasn't a reaction to FFE
21:14specifically. It was already in motion, asking for communications going back to 2024, well before
21:21FFE had a name. Now that record request lands with new weight. Because it's no longer just about tickets
21:27and phone calls over a red card. It's about whether a president's inner circle stands to profit from a
21:34deal his own government's soccer body would need to approve. And Kushner's team has pushed back on one
21:40particular thread of the criticism. The idea that Joshua Kushner himself is politically wired into
21:46the administration. Reporting suggests his ties are more financial than political at this point.
21:52Kushner does not have political ties to the Trump administration. His most recent political
21:57donation was to the Obama Foundation, according to public records. That detail complicates the simplest
22:04version of the story. The idea that this is literally Trump's family cashing in directly.
22:09It isn't quite that. But it doesn't erase the deeper pattern either. A fund built by the
22:15brother of the president's son-in-law, structured with the bank that's been advising FIFA. Positioned
22:20to lead investment into the exact tournament, the president spent the last year attaching himself
22:25to publicly. Infantino, for his part, hasn't backed down from any of it. He's framed the whole plan as
22:31opportunity, not concession. Calling it, in his own words, a chance to unleash the commercial potential
22:37and opportunity that FIFA has. He's also leaned on his usual instinct when criticized,
22:43going after critics directly on social media. Rather than engaging with the specifics reporters,
22:48we're raising about Kushner or JP Morgan's role. So where does all of this actually land? Infantino has
22:55his deadline, UEFA has its boycott. And in between them sits a tournament that hundreds of millions of
23:01people watch every four years. The first real test isn't even the men's World Cup, it's much sooner
23:07than that. The first test of this stance will come in September, when Poland is due to host the women's
23:13U20 World Cup. That's the tripwire. If European teams actually sit that one out, everyone will know
23:19this isn't posturing. And the boycott, as written, isn't a soft threat with wiggle room built in.
23:25UEFA tied its own hands on purpose. No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition
23:32for so long as these proposals remain alive. Unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and
23:38binding assurances have been gifted. That FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions
23:44to private ownership. Nobody should be under any illusions about how far Europe says it's willing
23:49to go. UEFA and its national associations will oppose these plans with absolute determination.
23:56The statement UEFA closed with wasn't written to be forgotten either. There are moments when
24:01institutions are judged not by what they are prepared to accept, but by what they refuse to compromise.
24:06This is one of those moments. Now, Infantino's math isn't crazy, even against that wall of European
24:13anger. He doesn't need Spain or Germany or England to say yes right away. He needs a majority
24:19across 211 federations. And most of those federations don't have a Premier League broadcast deal sitting
24:26in their bank account. For them, $80 million between now and 2037, or a shot at that $10 billion package,
24:33isn't a moral question. It's survival money for programs that have never had this kind of budget
24:39in their history. That's the bet underneath all of this. Infantino is wagering that the loudest,
24:46richest federations can be outvoted by the ones who need the cash more. And he's doing it with a
24:50financing partner whose last name connects directly to the man who was holding the World Cup trophy
24:56next to him in July. Whether that bet pays off comes down to September. The deadline hits before the
25:02year is out. And by then we'll know if UEFA's boycott held, if South America actually joined it the
25:08way Seferin suggested. And if enough of FIFA's other 211 members took the money instead. What's
25:15already clear is this. Infantino built a circle around himself over the last two years. Trump Tower
25:21office space, a manufactured peace prize, phone calls that overturned a red card, a floated nomination
25:27to run the United Nations. And when it came time to find someone to help him sell a piece of
25:32the World
25:33Cup, he didn't have to look far. He picked up the phone to the same circle he'd already spent two
25:38years standing next to on camera. Whether that circle ends up owning a slice of the tournament,
25:44or whether UEFA's wall of 55 federations forces him to walk it back before September,
25:49is still an open question. But the pitch has been made. The money's on the table. And the
25:55president's inner circle is sitting right there, waiting to see if the deal closes.
25:59Where are these two people that want to be anaest Количеinte and apareccent?
25:59Where are many people from within our streetması and Jeremiah?
25:59I say an actor called this one for free to beat me by arma because it will affect that.
26:00The scale of 10 people because it's the only goal that want to correspond if you
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