Rich Weighs in on FIFA’s Latest World Cup Private Equity Money Grab

Rich has a simple position on FIFA's latest idea, and he stated it plainly after reading the whole proposal out loud.

The World Cup is not Gianni Infantino's to sell.

The mechanism is a stake in something called FIFA Forward Enterprises. According to the report Rich walked through, selling that stake would raise enormous money in exchange for influence over future World Cups, including broadcasting and commercial deals tied to the tournament. The proposal is backed by American investor Josh Kushner, who is the brother of the FIFA peace prize winner's son-in-law, and by JP Morgan.

The sweetener is real. More than 80 million dollars in payouts to each of FIFA's 211 member associations between now and 2037.

"So, everyone's going to wet their beak," Rich said, before wondering aloud what 80 million dollars actually buys in Cape Verde. Someone at the desk suggested the whole island.

Apparently there is a deadline. September 19th, for reasons nobody has explained.

And then UEFA, in Rich's translation, told Infantino to go UEFA himself.

The statement from the 55 European member associations is not a negotiating posture. It is a threat with a fuse on it. No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless the proposal is abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances are given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.

The language got sharper from there.

"There are moments when institutions are judged not by what they are prepared to accept but what they refuse to compromise. This is one of those moments. Some things are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will, and so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale."

For any American who needs a scouting report on who exactly is walking away, Rich provided one. Just add Germany, France, England, and Spain. Are they any good.

He also flagged the part that tends to get lost in these conversations. This is not only about the men's tournament. This covers the women's World Cup too. Anything FIFA is doing.

That is where Rich's real argument lives, and it is not a legal one. It is a crowd one. He watched a World Cup on American soil where stadiums renamed themselves and a country that generally treats soccer as a side dish got completely swept up in it.

"Hey, Johnny. The World Cup doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the people."

There is precedent for what happens when the people decide otherwise. The Super League got busted up in 48 hours because fans got angry, and Rich brought it up for a reason.

CONCACAF, the federation the United States competes under, has been more cautious. Its statement so far says the confederation is deeply concerned, which Rich found comically insufficient given what UEFA just did. The 41 member nations were meeting the same day, and Rich expects a stronger statement. If CONCACAF joins UEFA, he thinks the whole thing is finished.

The desk kept circling back to the same disbelief.

"We're selling pieces of the World Cup? The World Cup needs private equity because they have trouble making ends meet? What the hell is this about?"

Rich's read was blunter. Brazen.

He also noted, with some relish, that even Sepp Blatter has apparently called this a bridge too far. When that is the guy calling it excessive, you have wandered somewhere strange.

"I said my piece," Rich said. And then, because he has been paying extreme attention to this sport for maybe the first time in his life, he planted himself.

"A man's got to stand for something."