Key investor Kushner blames football power struggle for World Cup plan collapse

Investor 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 gotten involved” if it had anticipated the backlash.

The first comments by venture capitalist Kushner – the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump – since the plan collapsed came on Monday, as European governing body Uefa prepares a criminal case against Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

“While we stand behind the motivations of FFE [Fifa Forward Enterprise], we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to,” Kushner said in a statement.

“Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten 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 US$20 billion commercial subsidiary.

Fifa said the proposal would have raised US$4.2 billion to benefit poorer football-playing nations, and that member associations could have voted to reject it.