Teams in that competition are owned by majority investors, who therefore hold significant sway in how it is run.<\/p>\n
Other models, including The Hundred of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)\u00a0\u2013 an attempt to rival the IPL \u2013 have sold minority ownership of the teams.<\/p>\n
ECB, as a result, retains control of the competition, and this is what FIFA is proposing for the share of the World Cup and its events that it intends to sell privately.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, a share is a share and new investors, be it in cricket\u2019s The Hundred or in the FIFA World Cup, will expect at the very least to be heard when it comes to decision-making.<\/p>\n
This is where concerns are being raised about the proposals.<\/p>\n
![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-20T091135Z_2107488267_UP1EM7K0PJ9XH_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-ESP-ARG-1785319413.jpg\")
US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, hand the World Cup trophy to Spain\u2019s Rodri before the 2026 trophy lift [Hannah Mckay\/Reuters]Who are the potential investors in the World Cup and other FIFA events?<\/p>\n
Thrive Eternal, a United States venture capital firm, has been put forward to lead the proposed investor group, FIFA said.<\/p>\n
The vehicle was founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.<\/p>\n
Any potential investors would thereafter buy into the FIFA events via Thrive Eternal.<\/p>\n
What benefits are FIFA claiming if the World Cup and events plan succeeds?<\/p>\n
FIFA has said all net benefits will be reinvested in football, and that all countries should benefit from the ever-increasing profitability of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball is the world\u2019s most popular sport,\u201d FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cParts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value \u2013 and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur job is to make sure the rest of football grows with it: FIFA exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018It is not FIFA\u2019s to sell\u2019: UEFA and UK PM reaction to Infantino\u2019s World Cup plan?<\/p>\n
FIFA has already clashed with domestic and continental governing bodies during World Cup 2026. The European powerhouse, UEFA, was the first to speak out<\/a> against the new proposals.<\/p>\n \u201cThis crosses a line that football\u2019s governing institutions should never cross,\u201d UEFA said.<\/p>\n \u201cUEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder who cares about the future of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThe soul and governance of football are not assets to trade \u2013 especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA\u2019s to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Burnham, who only replaced Keir Starmer as the United Kingdom\u2019s prime minister last week, wrote on X: \u201cLet me say this very directly. Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine.<\/p>\n \u201cThe World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone\u2019s to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) said on Wednesday that it \u2060had not been informed<\/a> of FIFA\u2019s proposed sale of equity to outside investors and was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d over a lack of due process.<\/p>\n What needs to happen next for FIFA\u2019s World Cup plans, and will UEFA boycott?<\/p>\n Any change will need to be voted through by FIFA\u2019s 211-country membership.<\/p>\n Of that number, 55 nations fall within UEFA\u2019s governance.<\/p>\n The European body will hold an emergency meeting later this week to discuss the proposals.<\/p>\n Were FIFA to implement such a plan, one possible response UEFA could take would include a boycott of FIFA competitions.<\/p>\n Although having just above a quarter of the FIFA membership, Europe has produced the winner of six of the last eight World Cups.<\/p>\n Argentina and Brazil are the only teams to prevent a clean sweep by the Europeans in that time, and, indeed, are the only nations outside Europe to win the World Cup since fellow South Americans Uruguay won their second and last title in 1950.<\/p>\n What is the latest on Infantino and FIFA\u2019s World Cup proposals?<\/p>\n
![\"Argentina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2026-07-19T205309Z_640262974_UP1EM7J1M0KIB_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-ESP-ARG-1785323785.jpg\")
Argentina superstar Lionel Messi during World Cup hydration break [File: Lee Smith\/Reuters]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The dust has barely settled on the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup 2026, yet further development of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[252,578,18,771,7587,5,6,461,2126,13444],"class_list":["post-93182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-switzerland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117004543321264209","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}