Kushner states regret over World Cup sell-off plan

Joshua Kushner, a venture capitalist and brother of President Donald Trump’s daughter, has expressed regret over his involvement in a scrapped plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup. The proposal, known as Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), was to be led by Infantino, the president of FIFA. In his first public comments since the scheme was abandoned, Kushner stated, "Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved."

He admitted that he had failed to grasp the political complexities of international football. However, Kushner defended the proposal's core intentions, asserting, "We stand behind the motivations of FFE," which aimed to distribute more funding and equity among FIFA's 211 member associations. The plan, backed by Kushner's firm Thrive Eternal, had proposed investing $4.2bn (£3.1bn) into a $20% stake in a new commercial subsidiary of FIFA.

The idea was met with widespread criticism and was ultimately shelved in July amid significant backlash.