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FIFA vows to proceed with private investor plan consultation as opposition spreads

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World football governing body FIFA hit back at critics on Friday, vowing to press ahead with an “open and democratic” consultation with stakeholders on a proposed private investment plan.

European football’s governing body UEFA said it was ready to boycott the World Cup over the proposal to create a commercial subsidiary to run FIFA’s biggest events and allow private investors to acquire stakes in the company.

Carlos ⁠Cordeiro, senior ​advisor to FIFA ​president Gianni Infantino, resigned with immediate effect on ​Friday ‌to protest the proposal, calling the plan “a bad deal ​for football”.

“Let ‌me be clear: I had no involvement in ‌this proposal, and I ​oppose it unequivocally,” Cordeiro said in a statement. “It ​is a bad ​deal for FIFA’s ​Member Associations, a bad ​deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future ⁠of the game.”

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In a statement, FIFA said all of its member associations should have a chance to consider the plan.

“Nobody is selling football,” FIFA said in the statement.

“This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.”

Read moreInfantino defends FIFA investment plan amid mounting backlash

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FIFA said it had heard the feedback from confederations including UEFA and CONCACAF – the governing body for North and Central America. 

“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation,” the statement said.

“Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each (member association) has the ability to express its vote based on facts.”

FIFA has said the plan could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative.

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Potential investors reportedly include Thrive Capital, an investment company founded and led by Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump‘s son-in-law Jared, as well as an arm of JP Morgan Chase, the US bank that attempted to finance the failed breakaway European Super League.

If approved, the project could provide each of FIFA’s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027 and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8.0 million to $20 million.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

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Surprising WWE star acknowledges Roman Reigns ahead of SummerSlam

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A surprising WWE star decided to acknowledge Roman Reigns ahead of SummerSlam. Reigns will be defending the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Night 2 of the PLE this weekend.

IYO SKY won the Queen of the Ring tournament last month and will be challenging Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship at SummerSlam 2026.

Ahead of the PLE, WWE shared a video featuring The Genius of the SKY acknowledging Reigns as his entrance theme played. You can check it out in the post below.

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Roman Reigns will be defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. The two stars had their final face-to-face ahead of their title match this past Monday night on WWE RAW.

Rollins claimed that he owned Reigns in the ring and stated that he wanted The Tribal Chief’s family in attendance at the PLE so he could make them cry. This angered The Head of the Table, and he leveled Rollins with a Superman Punch.

Reigns then brought a steel chair into the ring, but it backfired. Rollins connected with a Stomp to Reigns on top of the chair and is heading into SummerSlam with the momentum on his side.

WWE star opens up about betraying Roman Reigns in the past

Seth Rollins recently opened up about betraying Roman Reigns in 2014 while they were both members of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose, now known as Jon Moxley in AEW.

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Speaking on WWE’s YouTube channel, The Visionary stated that he had no idea about the domino effect his betrayal would cause for Reigns’ career.

“While I think the chair shot itself and the decision was probably made in haste and made without the foresight of what it would become, I never imagined Roman Reigns would become the Tribal Chief based on the resentment, the pain, and the PTSD from that chair shot. And I never imagined exactly how our paths would go, but I think what it did was give us a chance, right? It gave us both an opportunity to step out on our own and become the things that we were meant to become,” Rollins said.

“From the moment we came into the shield, I held his hand and nursed him along and kind of helped him out and got him to the next level … I’ve owned him.” @WWERollins has a message for Roman Reigns 👀

Only time will tell which star walks out of SummerSlam as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion.