Joshua Kushner regrets involvement in World Cup sell-off plan

Joshua Kushner – the brother of Donald Trump‘s son-in-law Jared Kushner – has expressed regret at becoming involved in the controversial plans of Fifa president Gianni Infantino to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investment.

Kushner is the founder and chief executive of venture capital firm Thrive Capital, and had held talks with Infantino about heading up a $4.2bn (£3.1bn) investment in 20 per cent of a proposed new Fifa commercial subsidiary, Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE).

However, the idea was abandoned just days after it was revealed amid a huge backlash and Uefa is now preparing to bring a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland for “criminal mismanagement”.

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Joshua Kushner has expressed regret at being involved in the proposed World Cup sell-off plan (AFP/Getty)

Infantino’s sell-off scheme collapsed within days last month after Uefa threatened to boycott the World Cup and other Fifa competitions, although the European governing body recently called off its boycott after saying it had received “assurances” that Fifa would not attempt to sell off stakes in its competition again.

Speaking for the first time since the situation, Kushner defended the underlying idea but conceded that had he known about the crisis the idea prompted, he would have steered well clear it.

In a statement he said: “Money in football has historically been concentrated amongst a small group of countries.

“The idea behind FFE was to direct more capital and equity equally amongst all 211 member countries, providing significantly more investment to underdeveloped nations to nurture local talent, support grassroots football, enhance the fan experience, and ultimately grow the global game everywhere.

“It was an idea that every Member Association would vote on, not an obligation or determination. 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.

“Thrive has a long track record of being a partner to all constituents. Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved.”

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Billionaire Kushner is the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (Getty)

Ahead of the potential criminal complaint against Infantino, Uefa has asked a court in New York to approve subpoenas for testimony and documents from both Kushner and Thrive.

Shortly before scrapping the controversial plan, Fifa had said that Thrive “is expected to lead the proposed investor group for FFE” and claimed it would have seen the funding distributed to each national association for the 2027-2030 cycle increase from £5.9m to £14.7m.

While Kushner has now expressed regret over the proposed scheme, he remains heavily involved in the sport sphere after recently agreeing a record $12.5bn (£9.3bn) deal to purchase iconic NBA franchise the Los Angeles Lakers.