FIFA defended its proposed World Cup private equity venture early Friday and said that “nobody is selling football” after broad criticism of the plan across international soccer.
FIFA blamed “erroneous reporting in the media” for the intense public outcry of its plan to sell stakes in soccer’s biggest tournament to private equity investors.
“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation,” FIFA said.
“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.”
The soccer governing body appeared to back off from establishing the private equity move — what it calls the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) — if the 211 member associations do not agree.
“FIFA’s commercial activities would remain unchanged. FFE would not be established. Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain,” the statement read.
European nations agreed Thursday to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions to protest president Gianni Infantino’s plan.
“UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions,” the European soccer body said after an urgent online meeting of its 55 member nations.
The next scheduled FIFA tournament is only weeks away in Europe — the Women’s Under-20 World Cup hosted by Poland starting Sept. 5 — and the four British federations comprise FIFA’s only bidder to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup. That decision is due Nov. 23.