FIFA World Cup stake plan draws attack from Blatter
Sepp Blatter told Reuters FIFA risks losing its soul with a $20bn World Cup subsidiary that could sell up to 20% to investors.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has condemned the FIFA World Cup stake plan, telling Reuters that the tournament should not be turned into an investment vehicle. His comments sharpen criticism of FIFA’s proposal to create a $20bn subsidiary for the World Cup and other competitions.
FIFA said on Tuesday that the new entity would run the World Cup and its other events, Reuters reported. The governing body also said it would offer outside investors stakes of up to 20 percent in the subsidiary.
Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years before leaving the presidency in 2015, said the plan would change the character of the organisation. “Football belongs to no individual and to no institution. It belongs to the people,” he told Reuters on Wednesday.
What is the FIFA World Cup stake plan?
The plan, as described by FIFA, would put the World Cup and other FIFA events under a new $20bn subsidiary. FIFA would then sell as much as one-fifth of that business to external investors.
Such a structure would bring private investors into a business built around FIFA’s flagship tournament. Blatter argued that investors seeking returns and influence do not fit with the role of a sports association that is supposed to serve its members.
“If FIFA were transferred into a profit-oriented corporate structure, it would lose its soul,” Blatter told Reuters. He said he had been shocked by the idea and would not have considered it during his own time in charge.
Blatter said the World Cup should not be treated as an asset controlled by a small group of executives. He called it part of the cultural heritage of global football and said FIFA should act as the tournament’s guardian rather than its owner.
How have European football officials responded?
The proposal has already drawn a sharp reaction from European football bodies, Reuters reported. UEFA, European football’s governing body, said FIFA was putting the game up for sale.
Blatter’s intervention adds a former FIFA president’s voice to the backlash. He was succeeded by Gianni Infantino in 2015, and his criticism puts him directly at odds with the current direction of the organisation.
Blatter told Reuters that modern football has lasted for more than a century because it belongs to the public. He said that principle should not change as FIFA weighs a structure that would give investors a direct stake in the commercial running of its biggest events.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.