The international football federation has come up with a new scheme to raise billions through venture capital
The world’s most popular sport has had a bumpy ride this summer, as the tournament that should have reminded viewers of the virtues of the “beautiful game” was tainted by back-room deals that instead associated football with clientelism.
And now the World Cup is over, the sport’s governing body has again come under fire from Europeans as a plan to sell off parts of FIFA has been revealed. The stink of profiteering was sufficiently egregious that the EU sport commissioner Glenn Micallef quickly expressed his objections, writing that “the relentless commercialisation of football has become corrosive”.
His opprobrium was echoed by the vice-president of Germany’s national football federation, who denounced “an outright attack on football.”
Micallef evoked the bloc’s competition law, saying that the proposal could be in breach. A previous ruling by the EU’s Court of Justice found that “sporting rules are subject to EU law where they produce economic effects,” he pointed out.
