Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has strongly criticised FIFA’s proposal to sell a minority stake in a new company that would manage the commercial rights to the World Cup and other major tournaments, arguing that football’s biggest competition should never become an investment product for private investors.Blatter’s comments come as FIFA faces mounting opposition to the proposal from UEFA, the Football Association (FA), Concacaf and other stakeholders. However, his intervention has also prompted widespread criticism on social media, with many supporters pointing to the corruption scandals that brought an end to his own presidency.
Blatter says the World Cup ‘belongs to the people’
Speaking to Reuters, Blatter condemned FIFA’s proposal to establish a new commercial subsidiary that would oversee the World Cup and other FIFA competitions while selling up to a 20% stake to outside investors.“Football belongs to no individual and to no institution. It belongs to the people,” Blatter told Reuters.“If FIFA were transferred into a profit-oriented corporate structure, it would lose its soul.”Blatter said he was shocked by the proposal, insisting he would never have considered such a move during his 17 years as FIFA president.“The FIFA World Cup is not a commercial asset that belongs to a handful of executives,” he said.“It is part of the cultural heritage of world football.“FIFA is the guardian of the World Cup, not its owner.”The 90-year-old also argued that private equity investors seeking financial returns were fundamentally incompatible with the way football has traditionally been governed.“Modern football has survived for more than a century because it belongs to the people,” Blatter said.“That principle should never change.”
Blatter also targets Infantino on social media
Blatter also criticised current FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a post on X, linking the proposal to Infantino’s relationship with United States President Donald Trump.“The close relationship between the FIFA President and the US President has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football,” Blatter wrote.“No one has the right to sell our game.”The comments followed reports that FIFA is working with multinational financial services firm JPMorgan on a deal to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new commercial entity that would oversee FIFA’s competitions and events. The proposed investment group would be led by Thrive Eternal, a fund launched by Thrive Capital founder Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.Under the proposal, FIFA would sell a 20% minority stake in the subsidiary at an estimated valuation of $20 billion, raising approximately $4.2 billion from private investors.FIFA has said it would remain the majority owner of the company and retain full control over governance, regulations, competition scheduling and sporting decisions.FIFA president Gianni Infantino has also written to the governing body’s 211 member associations, giving them until September 19 to vote on the proposal.According to FIFA, approval would unlock a $10 billion funding package beginning in 2027, with each member association eligible to receive up to $40 million through a combination of one-off funding and FIFA Forward development grants.
Opposition continues to grow
Blatter’s criticism comes amid widening resistance from football’s governing bodies.UEFA has described the proposal as one that “crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” arguing that “the soul and governance of football are not assets to trade.”The European governing body has also confirmed it is convening an emergency meeting of its 55 member associations, with ESPN reporting that possible responses under discussion include a future World Cup boycott if the proposal proceeds.The Football Association has similarly said it was “completely unaware” of the proposal before media reports emerged and stated that it was “deeply concerned” by what it described as a lack of process, transparency and governance.Concacaf has echoed those concerns, saying it learned of the proposal only through media reports before FIFA’s public announcement and describing itself as “deeply concerned by the lack of due process.”
Social media users accuse Blatter of hypocrisy
While Blatter’s criticism attracted attention, much of the reaction online focused on his own record as FIFA president.Many users argued that the former FIFA chief was poorly placed to criticise governance after the scandals that overshadowed the final years of his administration.One social media user wrote: “Why is Sepp Blatter talking about corruption? He was worse than Infantino.”Another commented: “Sepp Blatter; the man who ran FIFA for 17 years and was banned for ethics violations is now the voice of moral authority on corruption in football. The fact that he’s the most credible critic in this situation tells you everything about how deep this rabbit hole goes.”Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher also appeared to mock Blatter’s comments by responding with a GIF of Donald Trump pointing directly at the camera.
Why Blatter left FIFA
Blatter served as FIFA president from 1998 until 2015 before resigning amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in the organisation’s history.In May 2015, Swiss authorities, acting on indictments issued by the United States Department of Justice, raided Zurich’s Baur au Lac hotel, where several senior FIFA officials were staying.Seven high-ranking FIFA officials were arrested as part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged corruption involving more than $150 million in bribes.The investigation examined issues including broadcasting and commercial rights, the awarding of major tournament hosting rights and votes relating to the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.Although Blatter was re-elected FIFA president shortly after the arrests, growing pressure from sponsors, UEFA and law enforcement authorities led him to announce his resignation.Swiss prosecutors later opened a criminal investigation into a payment of 2 million Swiss francs made by Blatter to former UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011.FIFA’s Ethics Committee subsequently suspended both Blatter and Platini from football, originally imposing eight-year bans that immediately removed them from all football-related executive activity.Although both men have since been acquitted twice in Swiss criminal proceedings relating to the payment, their football bans remained in place, bringing Blatter’s 17-year presidency to an end.His latest intervention therefore comes from a figure whose own tenure remains one of the most controversial periods in FIFA’s history, even as criticism of the governing body’s latest commercial plans continues to gather momentum across world football.
