UEFA Seeks Swiss Criminal Case Over Infantino's $20 Billion World Cup Stake Plan

Q: Who were the secret private investors ready to buy into FIFA's $20 billion commercial empire before the plan collapsed?

The only investor publicly identified was Joshua Kushner’s investment vehicle, Thrive Eternal, a subsidiary linked to Thrive Capital. FIFA’s own materials said Thrive Eternal was expected to lead the proposed investor group for FIFA Forward Enterprise, the new subsidiary that would have held the commercial rights and operations for the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup. Beyond Thrive Eternal, the wider group of investors was never publicly disclosed. FIFA said only that it intended to select a “geographically diversified group” of long-term, minority, non-controlling investors. Reporting around the plan repeatedly noted the lack of transparency over who else stood to gain financially, and UEFA’s legal move is aimed in part at uncovering exactly how the investor group was assembled, marketed and structured. J.P. Morgan was involved as an adviser rather than as a disclosed equity investor. Greg Maffei, the former Liberty Media chief executive, was described as a key commercial adviser on the project, not as a named buyer of the stake. So, based on what is publicly known, the secret investors were not fully revealed before the plan collapsed. The only clearly named prospective backer was Thrive Eternal, led by Joshua Kushner.

3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Aug 27

UEFA filed a Manhattan discovery request seeking documents from FIFA, Thrive Capital, JPMorgan and Greg Maffei as it weighs a Swiss criminal complaint against Gianni Infantino.
The filing says Infantino pushed a failed plan to sell a 20% stake in FIFA Forward Enterprise for $4.2 billion, valuing the World Cup-linked business at about $20 billion without open bidding or independent valuation.
UEFA lawyers argue the price was fraudulently off-market and that the structure could have given private investors a permanent interest in FIFA's most valuable commercial assets for Infantino's benefit.
Infantino abandoned the sale on Aug. 1 after backlash from UEFA and other confederations; UEFA has only provisionally dropped its boycott threat after assurances no similar sale will be revived.
Any Swiss case would test prosecutors with a weak recent record in FIFA-related corruption matters, after acquittals for Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini and Nasser al-Khelaifi.