Kathmandu: FIFA said Friday it will keep going with its plan to bring private investors into football’s biggest tournaments, even as most of the sport’s regional bodies line up against it.

What FIFA Wants to Do

FIFA wants to set up a new company called “FIFA Forward Enterprise,” or FFE, to run its major competitions including the World Cup. Outside investors could buy up to 20% of it and would stay minority owners. The plan values FFE at $20 billion and could raise as much as $4.2 billion.

Among the investors reportedly involved is Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, who is US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has told the 211 member associations that if they approve the deal, their guaranteed funding would double, from $10 million to $20 million over the next four years. He says their total funding through 2038 would climb to about $86 million each, up from roughly $36 million. Members have until mid September to say yes.

UEFA and Concacaf Say No

UEFA which covers 55 countries and Concacaf which covers 41 in North and Central America and the Caribbean, have both rejected the plan and threatened to boycott the World Cup over it.

UEFA called the World Cup “one of football’s greatest sporting legacies” and said none of it should be sold off. It also blasted the way the plan was rolled out, calling it secretive and describing FIFA’s approach as “governance by intimidation.” Until the plan is dropped, UEFA says its national teams won’t play in any FIFA competition.

Concacaf’s complaints were similar: no real process, a deadline that felt rushed and no sign that FIFA’s own governing bodies had reviewed any of it first. Concacaf also asked a fair question: why does FIFA need private money at all, right after the most profitable World Cup ever?

Asia Turns Too

The Asian Football Confederation joined UEFA and Concacaf in opposing the plan and called on FIFA to fix how it consults members before big decisions like this.

That’s a real shift. Asia has usually backed Infantino. AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, who actually lost the 2016 FIFA presidential race to Infantino, wrote to member federations warning that FIFA’s move “appears to undermine the very foundations of continental football” and won’t work “without the support of all the confederations, which is not the case now.”

South America Stays Quiet

CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, hasn’t said a word publicly. That’s not much of a surprise. Its president, Alejandro Dominguez, has long backed Infantino and has been pushing for a 64 team World Cup in 2030.

Africa Leaves the Door Open

The Confederation of African Football is the one holdout that hasn’t rejected the plan. It says it has received the FFE proposal and will look at it at an Executive Committee meeting next week.

CAF has invited its own member associations to weigh in too and says it wants to keep talking with everyone involved about funding for football’s growth, in Africa and elsewhere.

The Investor Pushes Back

A source close to Thrive Capital, the firm expected to lead the private investors, pushed back on the idea that this is somehow a Trump family deal. Speaking to CBS News, the source said Joshua Kushner holds no role in the Trump administration, doesn’t donate to Republicans and runs a firm managing about $60 billion in assets on his own merits.

FIFA Fires Back

FIFA answered its critics on Friday. “Nobody is selling football,” it said in a statement adding that such a thing “is not something FIFA would ever entertain.”

FIFA insisted every member association will get a real say and called for an “open and democratic” consultation. It blamed some of the uproar on “incorrect media reports” and said it would keep going with the consultation “to ensure that each member association has the ability to express its vote based on facts.”

At the same time, FIFA softened its tone on actually setting up FFE. Without backing from its 211 members, it said, “FIFA’s commercial activities would remain unchanged” and the new company simply “would not be established.” How the consultation plays out from here is still an open question.

Why It Matters Now

The row lands just weeks before FIFA’s next event, the Women’s Under 20 World Cup in Poland, which kicks off September 5. It also comes while England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s joint bid sits as the only one on the table to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup with a decision due November 23.