Football stirs(激起，引发) heated passions. But Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, pushes them to boiling point(将情感推向沸点). On July 28th football’s governing body unveiled(公布，揭晓) plans to raise $4.2bn by selling stakes(股份，赌注) in the running of future tournaments to private investors. UEFA, which oversees(监督，监管) European football, protested that the game “is not FIFA’s to sell”. A source close to UEFA says that if the plan goes ahead(进行，实施), it may boycott(抵制) future World Cups.
足球能激起热烈的情感。但国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺将其推向了沸点。7月28日，这个足球管理机构公布了计划，通过向私人投资者出售未来赛事运营的股份来筹集42亿美元。负责监管欧洲足球的欧足联抗议称，这项运动“不是国际足联可以出售的”。接近欧足联的消息人士称，如果该计划实施，欧足联可能会抵制未来的世界杯。
Hot on the heels of(紧随其后) a tournament that generated up to $15bn in revenue (and one especially contentious(有争议的) red card), FIFA said it intends to set up a subsidiary(子公司) that would consolidate(整合，巩固) its commercial operations. Those include broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing, as well as the staging(举办，上演) 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(增加，促进) funding for FIFA’s 211 national member associations, a majority of which must approve the plan.
紧随着一届收入高达150亿美元的赛事（以及一张特别有争议的红牌），国际足联表示计划设立一家子公司来整合其商业运营。这些业务包括转播、赞助、票务和授权，以及男足和女足世界杯的举办。这家名为“国际足联前进企业”（FFE）的子公司估值将达到200亿美元。出售约20%的股份将增加对国际足联211个国家会员协会的资助，其中大多数必须批准该计划。
Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, an investment firm, is in talks to(正在洽谈) 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(弹药，把柄) to Mr Infantino’s critics, who bristle at(对……感到愤怒) 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(敲诈勒索) 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这轮融资。他是唐纳德·特朗普总统的女婿贾里德·库什纳的兄弟。据报道，贾里德不会投资FFE，但这一家族关系给因凡蒂诺的批评者提供了新的弹药，这些人对他与特朗普的密切关系感到愤怒。在社交媒体平台X上，一群民主党人将国际足联描述为特朗普“在世界体育中最喜欢的腐败敲诈企业”，并指责其“直接与特朗普家族做生意”。