in mid-November, the secret flew on a plan: Fifa President Gianni Infantino wants to sell the Central rights of the world football Association, for 25 billion dollars. But Infantino operates this Deal highly discreet: For a year, he is working with anonymously held, Arabic-Asian investors in a corporate structure, the core areas of Fifa wants to take over. And in which he himself was particularly explosive! – as Chairman of the Supervisory Board to act.
Compliance experts such as the Swiss Mark Pieth speak of a secret “RAID” the assets of the Association, it could even be a criminal offence. But Infantino is the unimpressed.
Since Tuesday, he is the 211 national associations in the world, directly in the case of edit – is gaining a foothold on massive resistance in Europe. The German football Association (DFB) Infantinos action now even as a “frivolous”. He has the backing of the European football Union (Uefa). The football drifts in the tear sample.
Infantinos published secret plans
Great is the consternation in the industry, as the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” recently, a “Term Sheet” unveiled the Fifa was: An internal working paper to Infantinos secret “Project Trophy”, which will Finance a group of investors to the Japanese Tech group Softbank, with up to 25 billion dollars. For a year, Infantino is hatching a Deal that turns officially to new tournament formats: a reformed club world Cup, a new Nations League. However, these Events are intended to blend work – the paper itself reveals.
The investors, which could cause premature exit from the tournament. Nevertheless, you would be Well-received, of everything: access to virtually all of Fifa’s rights, of digital formats up to the world Cup tournaments, starting in 2026; everything is to be transferred to a new company with the working title Fifa Digital Corp. (FDC). So it is not in the working paper that denies the Fifa itself, but as “outdated” and “one of hundreds” is trying to play.
It was the Term Sheet and the base, to catch off guard as a Infantino in March be Fifa-Council, for the first time with the billion offer tried. Weeks later, he submitted the paper to the house justiziaren. Marco Villiger and Jörg full müller were shocked, they warned in a 16-page Expertise enormous risks: loss of control in the core business of the loss of the tax exemption to antitrust and damages issues. The opinion had consequences: Villiger and full-müller, Fifa had to leave.
He tricking, in order to save the project
Since the publication, Infantino a Problem. The Uefa-Norway “Project Trophy”, and if the relevant part of the football world does not go along, the failure of the Deal. As for new formats between fire and new Zealand no Investor as billion.
Tricky Infantino is now trying to save his billion deal. To already be at the next Board meeting in March approved – but without the enlightenment of the backgrounds. It was not at the Meeting of the newly-created task force, which met under the direction of Infantinos adjutant Zvonimir Boban. The task force dealing with the sporting and technical aspects of the new formats, according to the Fifa. The only thing that matters, the planned rights-of-sale, remains in the dark.
And the same mesh plays Infantino now when you try to convert the 211 organizations in the world individually. From Tuesday to Thursday, the first three of a total of nine “football summits have been held in Qatar”. A core theme of the Agenda: “the future of Fifa competitions”.
“The future”: That’s the billion-Deal. Infantinos Plan now so that only a small associations should not be wrapped, are hardly, if at all, for tournaments in which they play no role – but the same voice in the Fifa as the major associations. At the end it goes to the critical mass: Europe’s top salesman in the want to deal with the topic only if you know all the Details of the billion-dollar deals.
“Anyone can speak against”
the first three “Fifa Executive Football summit” in Doha invited 52 organisations. Including Yemen, and the Gambia, Somalia, Samoa, the Cook, the Cayman Islands and the virgin Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Bhutan, Nepal, Samoa and the Solomons, Guam and Lesotho. Nine representatives from the East of Europe were called in from Russia to Moldova.
All should not vote – but if you want the new tournament formats in the world: a reformed club world Cup (the current runs almost unnoticed since Wednesday, Al-Ain from the UAE defeated Phoenix in Wellington in the penalty shoot-out), as well as a Nations Cup, were in direct competition to the core product of Fifa, the football world Cup. Matched numbers, and game modes should only be on a fixed catalogue of questions to appointments, participant.
So, a manipulated vote? By no means, affirms Fifa on request: “Anyone can speak out against any proposal.” However, neither the Doha participants found such a Veto Option, nor is it included in the question paper sent by Fifa in advance.
The DFB to take up a clear Position
The associations were divided in Doha in groups, each Delegation received an iPad with questions: Will the Nations League continental limited, or global? Should you played in the beginning on the continent, and the final round will be held around the world? How is the new club world Cup: 16, 24 or 32 Teams? Every year, every two or every four years? The answer options: Yes or no. At the Insistence of the European representatives, such as Georgia and Lithuania, abstention has been added a third:.
The thing ran as smooth as Fifa hoped for. The Europeans did not vote, according to information of the “süddeutsche Zeitung” – because you don’t want to risk that your vote may be in need of a Fifa meeting in March, miss. The refusal had been delivered “hard and direct,” confirms one observer.
The DFB is even on a collision course. “Without knowing more facts and the results of the deliberations of the task force to be seen, it is irresponsible to let national associations generally, vote whether you are for or against a club world Cup or the Global Nations League”, he shared on request.
“According to our information, have not engaged in some, maybe even all in Doha present European associations, therefore, at the time of the vote. You can rely on the constructive work of the Uefa representatives in the task force.” The sound compared to the Objectors to be aggressive, and it’s supposed to be even means that Infantino was also its President and to make him therefore a result.
German Football-the Federal government expects transparency
During the Fifa chief in Doha, so Tonga and Vanuatu umgarnte, sat in Zurich, the Secretary-General of the leagues merger, World League Forum (WLF), Jerome Perlemuter, in the case of Boban. And confirmed the negative Position of the WLF, in particular, of Europe’s leagues. The Great distrust Infantino. The focus is on the question of why he’s clinging so desperately to a secret project, whose backgrounds he revealed to the Fifa boards and closer. This behavior suggests some disturbing conclusions.
The Fifa summit in four to six episodes in mid-January in Marrakech and the end of January in Rome. The DFB is only loaded for the ninth, but President Reinhard Grindel, who also sits on the boards of Fifa and Uefa, said: “The DFB will participate at the Fifa summit in Rome to vote, it was expected that the Fifa Administration, in this occasion, all the information on the two competitions on the table.”
This is, apparently, to admit Infantinos Problem: all of the information. Even if the world would be excited about the new tournaments, does not bring the fractional part of $ 25 billion. The sell-off of the Fifa rights.
(Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Created: 14.12.2018, 20:30 Uhr
