Joshua Kushner, brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared and the founder of VC firm Thrive Capital, has some regrets about a failed plan to allow private investors to take a stake in the World Cup.
In a statement published initially by Axios this week, Kushner said the firm “failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to.” Defending Thrive’s participation in the failed deal, Kushner added: “Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved.”
The failed proposal, known as FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE, would have created a new commercial subsidiary that would hold commercial rights in FIFA competitions, including broadcasting, licensing, and ticket sales. Thrive was set to be the lead investor in a group that also included BANN Ventures CEO Greg Maffei, which would have put in as much as $4.2 billion for about 20% of the business, valuing it at about $20 billion.
Each member association would have immediately received $20 million in increased development funding under the plan, with more to come later. FIFA would have retained control of FFE while outside investors purchased minority, non-controlling stakes.
Kushner, in his statement, argued the FIFA Forward Enterprise would have allowed more capital to flow to “underdeveloped nations” and their soccer infrastructure and players.
“Money in football has historically been concentrated amongst a small group of countries,” Kushner said.
But critics of the proposal fiercely rejected the plan over concerns about introducing private interests into the world’s largest soccer tournament that would expect to make a profit on their investment. FIFA is a nonprofit. Several also criticized the way the plan was drawn up and executed. FIFA and Infantino scrapped the FFE plan in late July.
UEFA raising the stakes
UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, is now reportedly preparing to file a criminal complaint in Switzerland in which it alleges that FIFA president Gianni Infantino and other FIFA officials developed the FFE plan with a small group of advisers and investors without notifying FIFA’s governing body, the FIFA Council, or any regional confederations or member associations, which make up the rest of the FIFA’s governance.
After the press first revealed the plan to create the FFE, UEFA, as well as North American soccer’s governing body CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation, issued statements rejecting it. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who faced accusations of corruption and mismanagement during his tenure, was one of the plan’s most vocal critics, along with current FIFA president Infantino.
Overall, critics voiced concern over giving outside investors a long-term stake in some of FIFA’s most valuable commercial assets and the influence that might give them over the world’s largest sporting event. They also questioned how the $20 billion price was reached.
Kushner and Thrive have now been thrust into what may be a prolonged fight between FIFA and UEFA, the European confederation representing 55 member associations. Thrive has reportedly engaged with high-profile lawyer Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, who has made a name for himself defending big names like Elon Musk, billionaire rapper and businessman Jay Z, and actor Alec Baldwin. UEFA has said Kushner and Thrive themselves are not suspected of wrongdoing.
UEFA has asked several U.S. federal courts including in Florida and the Southern District of New York for permission to obtain documents and testimony through discovery that it could use for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland against Infantino and other FIFA officials over the proposed transaction.
Meanwhile, FIFA in court filings this week asked a U.S. court to defer giving UEFA the documents or give FIFA a chance to oppose the move by the end of the month, the BBC reported. FIFA said in filings that UEFA is seeking U.S. documents for a foreign criminal proceeding that doesn’t exist yet and that UEFA lacks the authority to initiate. It claims UEFA wants to maintain its outsized influence over global soccer by blocking other regions and member associations from gaining financial strength. It also accused UEFA of a “smear campaign against it and its leadership.”
Infantino, up for reelection as FIFA president in March 2027, now faces a steep crisis of confidence despite previously being seen as likely to win another four-year term. Several European member associations, each with one vote in the election, have withdrawn support for Infantino. Still, he retains support from the African and South American confederations, which together represent 64 member associations.
Infantino has apologized for errors surrounding the aborted proposal while still defending the underlying idea that it would have distributed more money to smaller and poorer soccer federations.
Kushner for his part emphasized in his note this week that FIFA’s members would ultimately have decided whether to participate.
“It was an idea that every Member Association would vote on, not an obligation or determination,” Kushner said.
In Florida, a federal court allowed FIFA to intervene and oppose UEFA’s discovery request, and its opposition is due by the end of the month. In New York, FIFA is seeking the same outcome and has asked the court to defer its proceedings while the Florida court weighs similar underlying legal questions.