Uefa has scheduled an emergency meeting for Thursday afternoon to discuss its response to the contentious World Cup stakeholder plans proposed by Fifa and its president, Gianni Infantino. The plans have sparked intense controversy, and European football’s governing body has continued to express its strong objections.
After discovering that Fifa had sent a letter to all 211 member associations, giving them until 19 September to decide whether to accept the deal and receive the initial $20m payout, Uefa released a statement. “We have learned of Fifa’s deadline to associations to support their proposals or have the one-off payout offer withdrawn,” Uefa said. “This says everything you need to know about this plan.” This statement marked Uefa’s second comment on the issue, following an initial statement that claimed Fifa had “crossed a line”.
The specifics of what will be discussed during the virtual meeting are not yet clear. Many associations, including the Football Association, are outraged that they only learned about the proposal to sell a 20% stake in Fifa competitions to private finance through the media. The proposal is led by the Thrive Eternal investment vehicle, which is owned by Joshua Kushner, the brother-in-law of US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt, who is also a Fifa vice-president, was not given advance warning of the proposal. Uefa’s concerns have been echoed by the Asian, South American, and North and Central American Confederations. Former FA and Manchester City chairman David Bernstein has suggested that England should “withdraw” from the World Cup if Infantino’s proposals are implemented.
Uefa is aware that the nuclear option of its members pulling out of the tournament would severely damage the financial viability of the concept. However, this option is considered to be at the outer edge of what is possible, particularly since one Uefa member has expressed broad agreement with Infantino’s proposals. Czech Republic FA president David Trunda stated, “We can see the pragmatic benefits for Czech football.”
In an attempt to address the widespread condemnation of the proposals, Fifa released an eight-page document on Wednesday evening, outlining the reasons behind them. According to Fifa, the organization believes that “too little of football’s growing commercial value has reached the parts of the game that need it most”. Infantino has argued that the proposals would provide funding for “better pitches, stronger national teams, more pathways for young players, and greater support for women’s football”.
In a video released by Fifa, Infantino defended the plans, describing them as “an offer, not an obligation”. He emphasized that the proposals are part of a democratic process and an opportunity, but not an obligation, to “turbocharge the development of the game globally”. Fifa has pointed to the qualification of Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan for the World Cup for the first time as an example of the positive benefits of its work, although this was partly due to the expansion of the competition to 48 teams.
Fifa has also cited examples of other sporting organizations, such as Formula 1, La Liga, Ligue 1, and the Bundesliga, that use “dedicated commercial operations”. The organization has assured that private investors would “absolutely not” have any influence over the World Cup.
The reaction to the proposals has been largely negative, with the European Leagues organization describing them as “a reckless and divisive development for world football”. Global players’ union Fifpro has called on Fifa to “reconsider its proposal without further delay”, stating that the move would “fundamentally and irreversibly reshape the incentives underpinning the competitions”. La Liga president Javier Tebas has accused Infantino of trying to buy votes before the next Fifa congress in March, saying that “development cannot be used to buy votes or silences”.
Hans-Joachim Watzke, vice-president of the German Football Association and president of Borussia Dortmund, has described Fifa’s plans as an “absolute attack on football”. He emphasized that if European football stands united against these plans, it would carry significant weight.
SOURCE: BBC.
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