FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s $20 billion FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal faces rejection from UEFA and European football leaders as 211 member associations await a final vote.
Infantino disclosed that the proposed entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise, known as FFE, would bundle FIFA’s broadcast rights, sponsorship, ticketing, and licensing operations into one commercially focused company valued at approximately $20 billion. The proposal has sparked an unusually public rift within global football governance ahead of the 2026 World Cup cycle.
He insisted the plan is designed to unlock commercial value that has so far gone uncaptured. Infantino stated that neither the World Cup nor any part of FIFA’s governance was being sold, only a stake in a new commercial subsidiary created to organize FIFA-owned competitions.
“It is an opportunity but not an obligation,” Infantino told member associations, adding that FFE would exist “for the benefit of FIFA’s 211 member associations” and would only take effect if approved by a majority of those associations and the FIFA Council.
According to Infantino, the new structure would raise distributions for each member association from $20m in the next forward cycle, with each association also able to access a further $40m per association under the proposal. The combined figure represents a substantial increase over current development funding levels available to smaller football federations.
He described the arrangement as a democratic consultation process. Infantino stated that FFE would become a FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary consolidating the organisation’s commercial and event operations only after member approval.
FIFA insisted its governance structure would remain intact. Infantino confirmed that FIFA “continues to govern football without any external interference” and that flagship tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup, “will always remain.”
He pointed to the existing FIFA Forward program as evidence of developmental impact, citing how a decade of FIFA Forward funding had helped Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan qualify for their first World Cup. These cases have been central to Infantino’s argument that increased commercial revenue translates directly into on-field progress for smaller footballing nations.
But UEFA rejected those reassurances outright. European football’s governing body warned that football’s integrity was being treated as a tradable commodity, stating that the soul and governance of football are not assets to trade, particularly with zero transparency over who stands to gain financially.
Borussia Dortmund president Hans-Joachim Watzke, who also serves as vice president of the German Football Association, condemned the plan in direct terms, saying many in European football see it as an absolute attack on the sport and that a line has been crossed.
La Liga President Javier Tebas went further. He accused FIFA of using football’s future to buy loyalty from member associations, a charge that drew no public response from FIFA by Thursday.
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter also weighed in, linking the proposal to Infantino’s ties with United States President Donald Trump. Blatter did not elaborate publicly on the connection beyond that assertion, according to the Punch’s source report.
Not all voices joined the opposition. Former Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick, who also serves as deputy chairperson of FIFA’s Men’s National Teams Competitions Committee, backed the proposal on Thursday, arguing it would boost funding for member associations, including Nigeria’s.
Pinnick called for restraint among critics. “We shouldn’t call everything a controversy,” he stated, pushing back against what he described as reflexive resistance to reform proposals from Infantino.
The proposal remains at the consultation stage. A final decision requires approval by a majority of FIFA’s 211 member associations and its 38-member council before FFE can come into existence as a formal FIFA subsidiary.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s $20bn FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, now the subject of an international dispute between FIFA and UEFA, will move to a formal vote only after the conclusion of the current member consultation process involving all 211 FIFA associations.
