Billionaire Josh Kushner regrets $20 billion FIFA deal that African bodies backed

Josh Kushner, the American venture capitalist whose Thrive Capital holds positions in OpenAI, Stripe and Instagram, says his firm regrets its role in FIFA's abandoned plan to sell part of the World Cup's commercial rights to private investors, a proposal that African football bodies had backed more consistently than any other bloc.

"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, in his first substantive comments on the collapse.

FIFA Forward Enterprise would have held commercial rights tied to the World Cup and other FIFA competitions broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing. The vehicle was valued at roughly $20 billion, with private investors taking up to 20 percent for about $4.2 billion. Thrive was lined up as a cornerstone investor; JPMorgan advised FIFA.

FIFA withdrew the plan on 31 July, less than a week after it became public, following resistance from confederations in Europe, Asia and North America.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino pitched the deal as a way to increase distributions to member associations, raising the potential figure to as much as $40 million each around $20 million in expanded development funding and a further $20 million through a programme running from 2027 to 2030.

Africa has 54 FIFA member associations. At the maximum, that arithmetic produces a theoretical continental figure of about $2.16 billion. No money was awarded, guaranteed or transferred, and the conditions, schedule and individual allocations were never settled.

The prospect drew support from officials in Morocco, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Mauritania and Comoros, and the Confederation of African Football backed the push for higher development funding. Many African associations depend on FIFA money for pitches, training facilities, administration and domestic competitions which is why a proposal European bodies treated as a governance threat looked, from Africa, like infrastructure.

UEFA boycotted FIFA over the plan and is seeking documents in the United States as it weighs a complaint in Switzerland concerning how the proposal was developed. No court has found Infantino, Kushner or Thrive Capital to have committed any crime or regulatory breach.

Kushner, 41, is the brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law a connection widely cited as having sharpened opposition to the deal. He and former Disney chief Bob Iger agreed last month to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion.