The Confederation of African Football, CAF, says it will carefully examine FIFA’s proposal to allow private investment in the commercial operations of the FIFA World Cup and other major football competitions.
In a statement released on Wednesday, CAF disclosed that its President, Patrice Motsepe, will meet with the Confederation’s Executive Committee next week to review the proposal and decide on a common position for African football.
The football governing body also urged its member associations across the continent to study the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal and take part in the consultation process in line with the existing regulations of both CAF and FIFA.
CAF said it remains committed to working closely with its member associations, FIFA, other continental football bodies and relevant stakeholders to increase financial support and other resources that will drive the growth and development of football across Africa and around the world.
FIFA recently announced plans to establish the FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new commercial subsidiary that would oversee the business activities of its biggest competitions, including the FIFA World Cup.
Under the proposal, FIFA would remain the majority owner of the company while seeking to raise about 4.2 billion dollars later this year by selling minority, non controlling stakes to carefully selected long term investors.
The proposal has continued to spark debate within the global football community.
Reports indicate that FIFA President Gianni Infantino could become the commissioner of the proposed commercial company after the end of his current term in 2031. The reports also identified venture capitalist Joshua Kushner and an investment arm of JPMorgan Chase as possible investors.
The proposal has faced criticism from several football governing bodies. UEFA argued that the FIFA World Cup should not be treated as a commercial asset for sale, while European Union Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef urged FIFA to keep its hands off the game.
Football confederations representing Europe, South America, North America and Asia have also raised concerns, saying they were not consulted before FIFA made the proposal public.
