Emergency meeting to vote on federation’s stance on Infantino’s FFE proposal JFF to make midday decision

Michael Ricketts, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), said he is confident his directors will vote to reject FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ (FFE) proposal when it convenes for an emergency board meeting at midday today.
Ricketts said Infantino’s FFE is a widely unpopular proposal across the world, including the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and Concacaf, and he expects Jamaica to stand in opposition as well.
“I have had meetings about it, of course. As the vice-president for the CFU, I would have had an equity meeting last evening. In fact, I just came off a meeting with the Concacaf president, and it seemed like it is unanimous that the proposal would not be supported,” Ricketts revealed.
“I have just engaged my directors for a meeting at midday tomorrow to get their own perspective on this proposal, but a number of persons have given an indication that they will not be supporting it.”
FIFA FORWARD ENTERPRISE
Infantino’s proposal seeks to create a subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise that will be placed in charge of the commercial rights, sponsorships, licensing and event operations for all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
FIFA values the proposed subsidiary at US$20 billion and seeks to sell a minority stake of up to 20 per cent to external investors, while FIFA would retain a majority 80 per cent ownership.
Infantino said this proposal will increase revenue for all FIFA member associations, who will receive up to US$40 million for the 2027-2030 cycle, an increase from the current US$10 million each association was set to receive.
For his proposal to be approved, Infantino would need a majority vote from the 211 member associations.
To do that, Infantino also set a September 19 deadline for each association to accept his plans, if they want to access an initial US$20 million.
But, despite the proposed increase in revenue, Infantino’s proposals have been widely criticised by football bodies across the globe.
In a statement, UEFA strongly rejected Infantino’s plans, with European nations threatening to boycott the World Cup if they are approved. 
“We unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors,” UEFA’s statement read.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies,” their statement continued. 
“No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”
NO TRANSPARENCY
Ricketts is also staunchly against FIFA’s proposal and slammed what he viewed as a lack of transparency by FIFA president Infantino.
Ricketts said FIFA did not disclose any information about this proposal when there were several opportunities to do so before, during, or after the recent World Cup.
He said this lack of transparency has only increased the pushback against the proposal, and criticised FIFA’s process of drafting the proposal.
“We knew nothing about this. All the meetings that we would have had prior to the World Cup, during the World Cup, and after the World Cup; this never came up for discussion,” Ricketts said.
“It all adds up to what we think was not a fair process. Even now, we don’t know who these partners are and who will be buying whatever per cent is up for sale,” he continued.
“This has only compounded the problems and, obviously, we are very, very, very unhappy with the entire process and I am sure it will be rejected when we have our meeting to collectively discuss the issue.”
gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com