FIFA president aims to sell the World Cup to Trump family associates

File it as today’s “what the actual hell” moment in the sports world. The Times is reporting that FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been in talks with private investors about selling stakes in the World Cup. It’s a move that would take complete control of the global tournament out of FIFA’s hands, and give a seat at the table to private entities with their own agendas. Moreover, the report added that a key figure in brokering these deals is U.S. President Donald Trump, whom Infantino cozied up to during the 2026 World Cup by presenting him with the inaugural FIFA peace prize and then sitting next to the president at games he attended.

FIFA has since confirmed the report, adding that Josh Kushner is positioned to be the lead investor in the plan, should Infantino elect to sell shares in the World Cup. Josh is the brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son in law.

Details of the plan are nebulous, but according to the report, the World Cup would ostensibly be split off from FIFA and into a new corporation, with Infantino as its commissioner as soon as his term as FIFA president ends in 2031. In his role as commissioner of this new company he would oversee the men’s and women’s World Cup, as well as the Club World Cup — with plans to run tournaments more frequently than every four years. It would be the most staggering pivot in the history of the World Cup, drastically altering the future of the tournament in order to squeeze more money out of the event.

Infantino can’t privatize the World Cup unilaterally, requiring the 211 member nations to vote on the proposal. The selling point for these members is that each of them would get a stake in the new company worth approximately $20M — putting a valuation on the entity at $4.22B. If that $20M sum for each nation seems paltry, it’s because it is, and it appears that is the plan by design.

Member nations would have the freedom to keep or sell their stakes in the World Cup corporation at their will under the Infantino plan. $20M is a pittance for the richest nations competing in global soccer, but for the dozens of nations dealing with budgetary issues it would enable them to sell out of the World Cup in desperation, putting their stakes in the hands of private ownership. It’s easy to envision a scenario where enough FIFA member countries sell their shares for profit to a point where the controlling interest of the World Cup is no longer under the control of a true democratic body, but private equity.

UEFA released a statement strongly condemning Infantino and FIFA for entertaining the privatization plan.

 “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every national football association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game. The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”

Raising more concerns about this plan is the news that FIFA is requiring senior officials, as well as prospective investors, to sign NDAs to keep their identities. In short: The Infantino scheme is to sell the world game, profiting tens-of-millions in the process, naming himself as leader, and having no transparency about who is in control or what their motives might be.

The Times report also states that Jared Kushner was initially planned to be the key player in the deal, but that Infantino and FIFA shifted the ownership to Jared’s younger brother, due to concerns over the optics of the politics involved. That inherently means that both Infantino and the Trump family (with the Kushners as proxy) are aware this deal reeks of corruption, and want to try and divert attention.

This could have an unprecedented impact on the future of global soccer, the process of host selection, and motivation behind the World Cup itself.