Joshua Kushner has broken his silence over the collapse of a controversial plan to give private investors a stake in Fifa’s commercial operations, as Uefa seeks evidence for a potential criminal complaint against president Gianni Infantino.
Kushner, whose investment firm Thrive was expected to lead the proposed investor group, said the scheme had been intended to spread football investment more evenly among Fifa’s 211 member associations. He added that Thrive would not have become involved had it anticipated how the plan would develop.
“Money in football has historically been concentrated amongst a small group of countries,” Kushner said in a statement. “The idea behind FFE was to direct more capital and equity equally amongst all 211 member countries.”
The proposal, known as Fifa Forward Enterprise, would have transferred commercial rights linked to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new subsidiary. Thrive and other investors were expected to provide about $4.2bn (£3.1bn) for a 20 per cent stake.
Fifa abandoned the plan on 1 August after strong opposition from Uefa and other confederations. Uefa has since applied to courts in New York and Florida for access to testimony and documents from Thrive, Fifa businesses and other figures involved in the discussions.
Those materials could include communications with Fifa officials, valuation models, financial forecasts, term sheets and details of prospective co-investors, according to court filings reported by Axios.
Uefa’s lawyers say they are considering bringing criminal proceedings against Infantino in Switzerland for possible financial mismanagement. They have also alleged that the proposed transaction valued the World Cup’s commercial interests at about $20bn (£15bn), without an open auction or an independent valuation.
Neither Kushner nor Thrive is expected to be a defendant in any proceedings. Uefa has described them instead as potential sources of evidence as it examines how the proposal was developed and presented.
“While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to,” Kushner said. “Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved.”
The legal escalation has intensified pressure on Infantino, who is facing calls to stand down from parts of the international football community. Uefa has said it wants greater accountability over the abandoned plan and has warned that it will support an alternative candidate if the Fifa president seeks another term.
Kushner has also recently agreed a record $12.5bn (£9.3bn) deal to buy basketball’s Los Angeles Lakers, alongside former Walt Disney chief executive Bob Iger.
