{"text":[[{"start":7.18,"text":"On the eve of the World Cup final, the great and the good of football assembled in New York’s Waldorf Astoria, Fifa’s base during the five-week tournament. As torrential rain poured outside, rumours spread that Gianni Infantino, president of global football’s governing body, was going to announce something big."}],[{"start":25.88,"text":"In the end, no announcement came, and focus soon switched to the match between Spain and Argentina, which Infantino would watch while seated next to US President Donald Trump."}],[{"start":36.24,"text":"But 10 days later, the FT revealed what Infantino had been intending to share: a plan to set up a new company housing Fifa’s commercial interests and sell a stake in it to private investors. It was billed as a chance to bring billions of fresh dollars into the game, to be distributed to countries across the globe to grow the sport."}],[{"start":55.1,"text":"The delay in revealing the proposal had not come from Fifa, according to people familiar with the matter, but from Thrive Eternal, an investment fund controlled by Joshua Kushner, the tech investor and brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. As the lead investor, he was concerned that the materials needed more work."}],[{"start":72.88,"text":"The response may have validated Kushner’s caution. The high-stakes gambit has prompted a furious backlash within football and beyond, with political leaders in the US and Europe condemning the idea. The plan’s viability and Infantino’s future as president — which had looked assured just days earlier — are now in doubt."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":92.04,"text":"It has also pushed those working in football to confront a long-simmering question: at what point does the influence of private capital in the world’s most popular sport become too much to bear? For many, a line in the sand has been drawn."}],[{"start":104.92,"text":"“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product,” said Uefa, which runs the game in Europe. “It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. It has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors.”"}],[{"start":122.84,"text":"The plan that has sparked such fury was hatched not in the halls of power at Fifa HQ in Zurich, but at the Allen & Co conference last year in Sun Valley."}],[{"start":132.6,"text":"It was there — at the exclusive, invite-only retreat — that Joshua Kushner and Greg Maffei began discussing the idea. Maffei, the former boss of Formula 1 owner Liberty Media, has known Kushner for years."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":145.6,"text":"“I think he [Kushner] approached me because he said, ‘Look, we’ve been thinking about this with Fifa and we know of your experience with F1,’” says Maffei, who had met Infantino when the Fifa chief attended a grand prix. “We actually pulled off into a little corner under some trees in the shade because it can get hot there. We talked for a while about a vision for what this could become.”"}],[{"start":166.8,"text":"Thrive Capital is focused on the tech sector but has a fund dedicated to “AI-proof” assets. In April, Kushner announced the launch of Thrive Eternal by buying a stake in the San Francisco Giants baseball team, but was quietly planning a much bigger move."}],[{"start":182,"text":"For nearly a year, Kushner had been working in secret on the plan, which would see him lead a consortium of investors who would buy a 20 per cent stake in a new vehicle at a $20bn valuation. Thrive declined to comment on this story."}],[{"start":195.5,"text":"The idea of hiving off a commercial arm and bringing in outside money has long been toyed with. In 2018, two years after Infantino became president, Fifa explored a plan backed by SoftBank to raise $25bn to create new global tournaments. That project ran aground due to the strength of opposition."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":215.54,"text":"But since then, football’s biggest showcase has become far more lucrative. Infantino told members during the 2026 World Cup held in the US, Canada and Mexico that revenue would surpass $15bn in the four-year cycle capped off by the event, up from projections of $13bn in the run-up and almost double the amount brought in from the Qatar World Cup in 2022."}],[{"start":238.78,"text":"This tournament was also a testing ground and shop front for new revenue-raising opportunities. Fifa introduced three-minute hydration breaks during matches, which broadcasters then used to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional advertising."}],[{"start":252.04,"text":"The World Cup final included a half-time show, which stretched the mid-game interval from the traditional 15 minutes to half an hour, a nod to the NFL’s Super Bowl performance and its lucrative TV ad slots. VIP seats on the touchline were sold for $1mn, while the price of general admission soared."}],[{"start":271.34,"text":"To Infantino’s allies, all of these changes offered proof that the World Cup has been under-commercialised and could bring in significantly more money in future if football’s leaders embraced the opportunity. “Infantino understands that money is what drives everything,” one major sports investor says. “He is formidable.”"}],[{"start":290.48,"text":"Infantino said this week that his plan would unlock “previously uncaptured commercial value”, money that could then be used to improve pitches, strengthen national teams and get more children playing football. If approved at a vote on September 19, each member association — which range in size from the tiny Atlantic island of Montserrat to India and China — that opted in would receive $20mn immediately through the investment plan, and have their annual payments more than double from $2mn to $5mn."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":321.06,"text":"His allies believe there is support among the membership. The Indonesian football association told Sky News this week that it backed the plan."}],[{"start":328.04,"text":"“Too little of football’s growing commercial value reaches the parts of the game that need it most,” said Infantino. “It is a golden opportunity to turbocharge the development of the game globally.”"}],[{"start":340.2,"text":"Football is no stranger to private money. Many of the world’s biggest clubs are owned by billionaires, private equity firms or sovereign wealth funds. Some of those that are still member-owned, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, have investment deals tied to other revenue streams, such as media rights, while the Spanish and French leagues both hived off their commercial operations and sold stakes to private equity — just as Fifa is attempting to do."}],[{"start":365.04,"text":"However, many such deals were agreed at a time of financial distress. Both the French and Spanish leagues sought outside capital during Covid-19, when gate receipts dropped to zero. A recent attempt to sell a stake in the German football league’s commercial arm resulted in widespread protests by fans. And for many, the World Cup is sacred."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":382.2,"text":"This includes Uefa, which has been embroiled in a long-running fight with the sport’s global body. One former Fifa official describes it as a “perpetual war”, and an increasingly personal one between Infantino and the Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin, who did not attend the World Cup final in protest against Fifa’s decision to lift a ban on a US player after pressure from the White House."}],[{"start":406.6,"text":"Much of the criticism aimed at Fifa is about the process itself, with many unhappy about the short window of just 53 days to consider the proposals. Few outside Infantino’s close circle were aware of the plans until they were revealed this week — Concacaf, which runs the game in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, was among those to say it first learnt of them through the media. “It was a very small circle of people, a team of ninjas,” says one person who worked on the deal."}],[{"start":436.64,"text":"That secrecy has inflamed longstanding concerns about the way the Fifa president has often pushed schemes without wider consultation. “This is not the first occasion where major stakeholders have been confronted with significant initiatives after the direction of travel appears to have already been determined,” said the Asian Football Confederation."}],[{"start":457.68,"text":"There has also been distaste at Infantino’s efforts to cultivate ties with Trump. Last year, he invited the US president to personally hand the trophy to the winners of the Club World Cup, a Fifa tournament. In December, Infantino awarded the US president a new Fifa “peace prize”, and agreed a strategic partnership with Trump’s Board of Peace — a group to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":481.68,"text":"Critics of Fifa’s approach question why it sees the need to bring in outside investors at all, especially so soon after a hugely successful World Cup."}],[{"start":490.72,"text":"“Fifa already has access to extraordinary financial resources. The organisation sits on billions of dollars in reserves and no debt,” said Carlos Cordeiro in his letter resigning on Friday as a senior adviser to Infantino. “If member associations believe additional investment is needed to develop the game, Fifa already has the financial capacity to provide that support from its existing resources.”"}],[{"start":515.2,"text":"Many now believe the plan is doomed to failure, citing the fate of the European Super League, a former project to launch a new competition outside the existing framework of club football. That plan died in under 48 hours after an outcry from fans and the threat of legal action from regulators and lawmakers."}],[{"start":534.56,"text":"Opponents say they are implacable. Uefa says that none of its 55 members will participate in any Fifa competitions until the plan is dropped and it receives binding assurances that private investment is permanently off the table. Members of Concacaf are rapidly losing faith in Infantino’s leadership, while the AFC has said this moment must be a “catalyst for strengthening institutional reform” at Fifa."}],[{"start":559.7,"text":"Some now expect Infantino to face a serious challenge at next year’s presidential election, while others are discussing whether to call a vote of no confidence. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Friday called for him to step down."}],[{"start":572.8,"text":"But Infantino is pressing on. He believes that Fifa’s members support him and his plan. One ally described the current stand-off as a “fight to the death”, adding: “He’s not going to bend.”"}],[{"start":584.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1785546908_5525.mp3"}