United States businessman Joshua Kushner has blamed power struggles within global football for the outrage over FIFA’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, admitting his firm “would not have got involved” if it had anticipated the backlash.
Venture capitalist Kushner, the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, commented on the ongoing row for the first time on Monday as European governing body UEFA prepares a criminal case against FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to,” Kushner said of the FIFA Forward Enterprise, the proposed commercial subsidiary of FIFA that would have managed the commercial and operational rights of FIFA competitions in the now-scrapped plan.
“Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have got involved,” added Kushner, whose firm Thrive Capital worked on the deal in private for months and would have spearheaded the investment process.
FFE was a plan to bring private investment into FIFA events, including the World Cup, by selling stakes in a new $20bn commercial subsidiary.
FIFA said the proposal would have raised $4.2bn to benefit poorer football-playing nations, and that member associations could have voted to reject it.
Critics said the plan had been hatched in secret to profit its investors, with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin dubbing the proposal a “shady, opaque backroom deal”.
UEFA has called for Infantino’s removal, accused the FIFA president of “criminal mismanagement” and is gathering evidence for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland, where both UEFA and FIFA are based.
US media has reported that Kushner is being targeted for subpoenas, with UEFA asking a New York judge for permission to demand Kushner and his firm hand over documents and sit for depositions related to the saga. Kushner and Thrive are not expected to be defendants in the UEFA case and have not been accused of wrongdoing.
“Money in football has historically been concentrated amongst a small group of countries,” said Kushner’s statement.
“The idea behind FFE was to direct more capital and equity equally amongst all 211 member countries, providing significantly more investment to underdeveloped nations to nurture local talent, support grassroots football, enhance the fan experience, and ultimately grow the global game everywhere.
“It was an idea that every Member Association would vote on, not an obligation or determination.”
He added: “Thrive has a long track record of being a partner to all constituents.”
Kushner is also a key investor in the ongoing record $12.5bn purchase of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most successful teams in NBA history.
