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The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), meeting in an extraordinary session, decided to unanimously reject the proposal from FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino to sell the football World Cup to private investors through the 'FIFA Forward Enterprise' program.
"Concacaf and its 41 member associations have rejected the proposal. Concacaf reaffirms that the future of football—and its main asset—must remain in the hands of the football family," states the communiqué published by the organization.
The 41 national federations belonging to Concacaf met this Thursday to deliberate on Infantino's proposal to create FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a subsidiary that plans an initial capital raise of up to 4.2 billion dollars, with a valuation of 20 billion, through long-term investors with minority stakes.
FIFA denies that the World Cup is for sale and rejects that its management is as well. It claims that FFE funds would be distributed to the federations through the existing FIFA Forward program, which would increase from 8 million dollars per federation in the 2023-2026 cycle to 20 million in the 2027-2030 cycle.
"During the meeting, the members expressed deep concerns about the absence of due process surrounding the proposal, the artificially imposed deadline, and the lack of any review or approval by FIFA's governing bodies. Furthermore, the need for private capital to fund new and existing FIFA programs, following the most profitable World Cup in history, was questioned," the document continues.
Concacaf concludes by demanding "more transparency and proper governance," as well as determining how FIFA's reserves could be used to increase investment in football development in the region, and reminds the FIFA president that any other matter should follow the correct channels of governance according to the organization's statutes.
This move follows the reaction from UEFA. The European confederation announced this Thursday that none of its federations will participate in FIFA competitions as long as the proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors remains in effect. EFE
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