Football stirs heated passions. But Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, pushes them to boiling point. On July 28th football's governing body unveiled plans to raise $4.2bn by selling stakes in the running of future tournaments to private investors. UEFA, which oversees European football, protested that the game "is not FIFA's to sell". A source close to UEFA says that if the plan goes ahead, it may boycott future World Cups.

足球点燃了人们的热情。 但国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺却将其推向了沸点。 7月28日，这项运动的管理机构公布了通过向私人投资者出售未来赛事运营权股份来筹集42亿美元的计划。 负责监管欧洲足球的欧足联（UEFA）抗议称，足球“不是国际足联可以随意出售的”。 一位接近欧足联的消息人士表示，如果该计划得以推进，欧足联可能会抵制未来的世界杯。

Hot on the heels of a tournament that generated up to $15bn in revenue (and one especially contentious red card), FIFA said it intends to set up a subsidiary that would consolidate its commercial operations. Those include broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing, as well as the staging of men's and women's World Cups. Called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), it would be valued at $20bn. The sale of a roughly 20% stake would boost funding for FIFA's 211 national member associations, a majority of which must approve the plan.

在一届创收高达150亿美元（以及一张尤其备受争议的红牌）的赛事刚落幕之际，国际足联表示其打算成立一家子公司，以整合其商业运营。 这些业务包括转播、赞助、票务和授权许可，以及男足和女足世界杯的举办。 这家名为“FIFA Forward Enterprise”（简称FFE）的子公司估值将达到200亿美元。 出售约20%的股份将为国际足联旗下211个会员协会提供资金支持，而该计划必须获得其中多数协会的批准。

Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, an investment firm, is in talks to lead the funding round. He is the brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law. Jared reportedly would have no investment in FFE, but the family connection has given fresh ammunition to Mr Infantino's critics, who bristle at his close relationship with Mr Trump. On X, a social-media platform, a group of Democrats described FIFA as Mr Trump's "favourite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports", and accused it of going "directly into business with the Trump family".

投资公司Thrive Capital的创始人约书亚·库什纳正在洽谈牵头本轮融资。 他是美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的女婿贾里德·库什纳的兄弟。 据报道，贾里德不会在FFE中持有任何投资，但这层家族关系给了因凡蒂诺的批评者们新的口实，他们本就对他与特朗普的密切关系感到不满。 在社交媒体平台X上，一群民主党人士将国际足联描述为特朗普“在世界体育界最喜爱的腐败诈骗组织”，并指责其“直接与特朗普家族做交易”。

UEFA is understood to be holding talks with other football bodies, as well as concerned governments, to plot its counter-attack. Andy Burnham, Britain's new prime minister, weighed in, declaring that "Football does not belong to investors" (though his favourite team, Everton FC, is owned by an American billionaire).

据悉，欧足联正在与其他足球机构以及相关国家的政府举行会谈，以策划其反击行动。 英国新任首相安迪·伯纳姆也介入表态，宣称“足球不属于投资者”（尽管他最喜欢的球队埃弗顿足球俱乐部正由一位美国亿万富翁所有）。

The introduction of private investment into the governing bodies of sports is not new. One of the architects of the deal is Greg Maffei, former chief executive of Liberty Media, who led its $4.4bn acquisition of Formula One in 2017 and helped turn a fading motorsports franchise into an entertainment juggernaut. Another example is PGA Tour, golf's most important event organiser, which set up a commercial arm in 2024 backed by private investors.

将私人投资引入体育管理机构并非新鲜事。 该交易的设计者之一是自由媒体集团（Liberty Media）前首席执行官格雷格·马菲，他曾在2017年牵头以44亿美元收购一级方程式赛车（Formula One），并帮助将这项日渐式微的赛车运动转变为娱乐巨无霸。 另一个例子是高尔夫最重要的赛事组织者美巡赛（PGA Tour），它在2024年成立了由私人投资者支持的商业部门。

FIFA says it will retain full authority over competitions, match calendars and other decisions. But the experience of PGA Tour suggests that private investors may end up putting their thumbs on the scale, reckons Sam Nursall of Ampere Analysis, a media-research firm. He notes that outside money may help FIFA spend more in poorer places, but that the quest for profit may also push it towards locating future World Cups in the most lucrative countries, having more frequent tournaments and possibly raising ticket prices.

国际足联表示，它将保留对赛事、比赛日程和其他决策的全部权力。 但媒体研究公司Ampere Analysis的萨姆·努塞尔认为，美巡赛的经验表明，私人投资者最终可能会施加影响。 他指出，外部资金可能有助于国际足联在较贫困地区增加投入，但对利润的追求也可能促使其将未来的世界杯放在最赚钱的国家举办、增加赛事频率，并可能提高票价。

Thrive Capital's investment in FIFA is being channelled through Thrive Eternal, a vehicle that can hold assets indefinitely, unlike conventional venture-capital or private-equity funds. That may make it less inclined to seek changes that generate a quick profit but alienate fans over the long term. Even so, it will have an interest in FIFA milking the sport for more money. A person close to the firm says it is counting on the value of its stake rising as FFE takes an increasingly commercial approach to selling broadcast and other rights.

Thrive Capital对国际足联的投资是通过Thrive Eternal这一工具进行的，该工具可以无限期持有资产，不同于传统的风险投资或私募股权基金。 这可能使其不那么倾向于寻求能快速获利但长期疏远球迷的变革。 即便如此，它仍有兴趣让国际足联从这项运动中榨取更多金钱。 一位接近该公司的人士表示，他们寄望于随着FFE在转播权和其他权益销售方面采取日益商业化的方式，其持股价值能够上升。

Thrive Capital is perhaps best known as one of the biggest backers of OpenAI. Its sizeable stake in the artificial-intelligence lab, and its belief in the disruptive power of the technology, may help explain its interest in live sports. A source close to the investment firm says it has been hunting for businesses that are likely to retain their value in a world of widespread AI. "If you consider it from the perspective of things that will remain human as Ai becomes more abundant, global football is a pretty good bet," argues the source. Still, Mr Infantino and his money-men will have to keep the crowd on their side.

Thrive Capital最为人所知的或许是作为OpenAI最大的支持者之一。 其在人工智能实验室的大量持股，以及对该技术颠覆性力量的信念，或许有助于解释其对体育直播的兴趣。 一位接近该投资公司的消息人士称，他们一直在寻找在人工智能普及的世界中仍能保值的企业。 “如果你从人工智能日益丰富之后，哪些东西仍将属于人类的角度来考虑，全球足球是一项相当不错的赌注，”该消息人士称。 不过，因凡蒂诺及其金主们仍必须赢得大众的支持。