FIFA on Friday defended its proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative, rejecting claims that it plans to privatise football and saying it will continue consulting its 211 member associations despite growing opposition from continental governing bodies.
In a statement, FIFA said inaccurate media reports had disrupted the consultation process and insisted member associations should decide based on facts.
“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,” it said.
FIFA stressed that the proposal is intended to increase development funding, not sell the sport.
“Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain,” it added.
The plan would transfer FIFA’s commercial and event-delivery operations to a wholly owned subsidiary, with additional revenue generated through external investment distributed among member associations.
Each association would receive $20 million in FIFA Forward funding between 2027 and 2030, regardless of its position on the proposal. A voluntary Fast Forward Programme would offer an additional $20 million per association through external investment.
FIFA said outside investors would have no control over the organisation or its competitions, and the proposal would proceed only if approved by a majority of member associations.
The statement came after UEFA’s 55 member associations unanimously backed a boycott of FIFA competitions if the governing body pursues plans to sell ownership interests in the World Cup and other tournaments, declaring: “The World Cup is not for sale.”
CONCACAF and its 41 member associations also rejected the proposal, citing concerns over governance, transparency and what they described as an excessively short consultation process.
FIFA said consultations remain ongoing and the proposal could still be amended, approved or rejected.