The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has denied reports that it plans to sell the FIFA World Cup to private investors, insisting that “nobody is selling football” following strong opposition from continental football bodies over its proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
In a statement issued on Friday, FIFA acknowledged widespread concerns raised by football stakeholders and said it remained committed to an open and democratic consultation process with its 211 Member Associations (MAs).
The football governing body said inaccurate media reports had disrupted its planned consultation on the proposal, prompting confusion about the objectives of the new commercial initiative.
“We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced since the initial media reporting on Tuesday,” FIFA said.
“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation.
“Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each Member Association has the ability to express its vote based on facts.”
FIFA stressed that the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise was designed to increase funding for football development worldwide rather than privatise the World Cup or surrender control of the sport.
“FFE has been proposed solely to ensure that all FIFA Member Associations have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football in their respective countries, and that this does not come at the cost of either the spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself,” the statement said.
“Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.”
The organisation also rejected suggestions that any individual confederation could determine the outcome of the proposal on behalf of all FIFA members.
“Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 Member Associations around the world. Each Member Association should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA.”
According to FIFA, the proposal would place its commercial and event-delivery operations under a wholly owned subsidiary known as FIFA Forward Enterprise while retaining permanent ownership and control of the new entity.
It explained that additional commercial revenues generated by the enterprise would be shared among all 211 member associations to expand football development funding globally.
Under the proposal, every FIFA member association would receive $20 million in FIFA Forward Development funding between 2027 and 2030, regardless of its current level of financial support.
FIFA added that the proposed FIFA Fast Forward Programme would provide an additional one-off $20 million development grant to each association through voluntary participation, financed by external investment without affecting FIFA’s governance or ownership structure.
“The FIFA Fast Forward Programme is a one-off development funding of an additional USD 20 million per Member Association. Participation would be fully voluntary for all Member Associations should the FFE proposal proceed and would be financed by external investment without ceding control or altering FIFA’s governance structure in any way,” the organisation said.
It further noted that the proposal could only proceed if it secured majority support from FIFA’s member associations.
“Without the support of the majority of Member Associations, FIFA’s commercial activities would remain unchanged. FFE would not be established.”
FIFA said every aspect of the proposal remains open to discussion, amendment or outright rejection during the consultation process.
The clarification comes after growing resistance from football’s continental governing bodies.
As previously reported by SaharaReporters, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), representing 41 member associations, formally rejected the proposal, citing concerns over transparency, governance and what it described as an unusually rushed consultation process.
Similarly, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) strongly opposed the proposal, warning that no UEFA national team would participate in FIFA competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, while plans to introduce private ownership interests in FIFA competitions remained under consideration.
UEFA described the proposal as a threat to football’s governance, insisting that “the World Cup is not for sale” and should never become a commercial asset controlled by private investors.