Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter strongly criticized FIFA’s proposal to sell a minority stake to a new company that will manage commercial rights to the World Cup and other major tournaments, arguing that football’s biggest competition should not become an investment product for private investors.Blatter’s comments come as FIFA faces growing opposition to the proposal from UEFA, the Football Association (FA), Concacaf and other stakeholders. However, his intervention also prompted widespread criticism on social media, with many supporters pointing to the corruption scandals that ended his own presidency.
Blatter says World Cup ‘belongs to the people’
Speaking to Reuters, Blatter condemned FIFA’s proposal to set up a new commercial subsidiary to manage 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 is transferred to a profit-oriented corporate structure, it will lose its soul.”Blatter said he was shocked by the proposal, insisting he would never have considered such a move in his 17 years as FIFA president.“The FIFA World Cup is not a commercial asset that belongs to a few 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 who seek financial returns are fundamentally incompatible with the traditional way of managing football.“Modern football has survived for more than a century because it belongs to the people,” Blatter said.“That principle must never change.”
Blatter also targeted Infantino on social media
Blatter also criticized current FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a post on X, linking the proposal to Infantino’s relationship with the President of the United States. Donald Trump.“The close relationship between the President of FIFA and the President of the US has reached a financial dimension that seriously harms football,” Blatter wrote.“There is no right to sell our game.”The comments follow reports that FIFA is working with multinational financial services firm JPMorgan on a deal to set up FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new commercial entity that will manage FIFA competitions and events. The proposed investment group will 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 for an estimated $20 billion, raising approximately $4.2 billion from private investors.FIFA said it would remain the majority owner of the company and retain full control over management, regulation, competition scheduling and sporting decisions.FIFA president Gianni Infantino also wrote to the governing body’s 211 member associations, giving them until September 19 to vote on the proposal.According to FIFA, the approval will unlock a $10 billion funding package starting 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.
The opposition continues to grow
Blatter’s criticism comes amid a growing backlash from football’s governing bodies.UEFA described the proposal as one that “crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should not cross,” arguing that “the soul and management of football are not assets for sale.”The European governing body also confirmed that it has called an emergency meeting of its 55 member associations, with ESPN reporting that possible responses discussed include a future boycott of the World Cup if the proposal goes ahead.The Football Association similarly said it was “completely unaware” of the proposal before the media reports emerged and stated it was “deeply concerned” by what it described as a lack of process, transparency and oversight.Concacaf echoed those concerns, saying it learned of the proposal only through media reports before FIFA’s public announcement and described itself as “deeply concerned about the lack of due process.”
Social media users accused Blatter of hypocrisy
While Blatter’s criticism has attracted attention, much of the reaction online has focused on his own record as FIFA president.Many users argued that the former FIFA chief was ill-placed to criticize the administration after the scandals that overshadowed the last years of his administration.One social media user wrote: “Why is Sepp Blatter talking about corruption? He’s 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 is 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 poke fun at Blatter’s comments by responding with a GIF of Donald Trump pointing directly at the camera.
Why did Blatter leave FIFA?
Blatter served as FIFA president from 1998 to 2015 before resigning amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in the organization’s history.In May 2015, Swiss authorities, acting on indictments issued by the United States Department of Justice, raided the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, where several senior FIFA officials were staying.Seven senior FIFA officials have been arrested as part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged corruption involving more than $150 million in bribes.The investigation examines issues including broadcast and commercial rights, the awarding of major tournament hosting rights and votes related 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 Blatter and Platini from football, having originally imposed an eight-year ban that immediately removed them from all football-related executive activity.Although both men have since been acquitted twice in Swiss criminal proceedings related to the payments, their football bans remain in place, ending Blatter’s 17-year presidency.His latest intervention 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 plan continues to gather strength in world football.