CONCACAF joins UEFA in rejecting FIFA president's private-equity World Cup plan

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) voted on Thursday to reject FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal to sell a minority stake in a new commercial subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to private-equity investors. The decision aligns the 41-member body with UEFA, which has announced a boycott of the World Cup and other FIFA competitions in protest.

CONCACAF said the proposal lacked due-process, imposed an “artificially short” deadline and had not been reviewed by FIFA’s governing bodies. It also questioned the need for private-equity funding for FIFA Forward programs after the most profitable World Cup to date.

Infantino’s plan, disclosed earlier in the week, would create a $20 billion subsidiary 20% owned by investors, with New York-based Thrive Capital identified as the lead investor. Thrive Capital is managed by Joshua Kushner, brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

"This is not merely a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of FIFA's duty as the custodian of world football," UEFA said in a statement.

The Asian Football Confederation also voiced concern, with its president warning that the initiative would fail without support from all confederations.

Infantino has offered member associations a potential increase in annual funding from $10 million to $20 million if they approve the plan, projecting $86 million per member through 2038. The deadline for a decision is mid-September.

A source close to Thrive Capital told CBS News that the firm’s involvement is purely commercial and that Joshua Kushner has no political ties to the Trump administration.

The controversy comes as FIFA prepares for the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Poland later this month and a decision on the 2035 Women’s World Cup host, for which the United Kingdom is the sole bidder, is due in November.