July 30, 2026 / 5:32 PM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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North America's soccer body on Thursday rejected FIFA president Gianni Infantino's plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors, joining European nations in opposition.The 41-member Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football held an urgent meeting Thursday after UEFA, the European soccer body, had agreed to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions to protest Infantino's plan."During the meeting," CONCACAF said in a statement, "the membership expressed deep concerns about the lack of due process surrounding the proposal, the artificially short deadline imposed, and the absence of any review or approval by the relevant FIFA governance bodies."In addition, the need for private equity investment to fund new and existing FIFA Forward programs following the most profitable FIFA World Cup in history was questioned."Infantino's secret project was revealed Tuesday to spin off its commercial operations in a new $20 billion subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE, that would be 20% owned by private investors. The core investor would be a New York investment firm, Thrive Capital, created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.Infantino has had close ties to Jared Kushner and held secret talks with potential backers in the U.S. about creating the FFE subsidiary with $4.2 billion of private equity."CONCACAF is a confederation united by the love of our game, where football comes first. Guided by this philosophy over the past ten years we have built, from the ground up, an organization founded on service, transparent governance, and the long-term stewardship of football," CONCACAF said in its statement. "History has shown FIFA and the football family what happens when the custodians of the game lose sight of these values."
