FIFA has sent all 211 of its member associations a 25-page sales deck, produced by investment bank JP Morgan, outlining a plan to sell a stake in the organisation's commercial future to a firm linked to Joshua Kushner — brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law. The document, obtained by The Guardian, was sent on the night of July 29, 2026.

The proposal would create a new company, valued at approximately $20 billion according to Bloomberg, to run FIFA's commercial operations. Twenty percent of that company would be sold to Kushner's investment firm, Thrive Eternal, which may deploy up to $4.2 billion into the venture, per Politico. FIFA would retain sole control of commercial and event operations, according to FIFA's own media release.

JP Morgan is a familiar name in football circles for all the wrong reasons. The bank was behind the European Super League — the breakaway project that collapsed amid fan fury in 2021. Now it is pitching a different kind of expansion, one that leans on debt financing, third-party capital, and what the deck calls "high-yield partnerships and events."

The numbers are eye-catching. FIFA currently brings in $3.6 billion a year. JP Morgan calls that "undermonetized" and compares it unfavourably with the NFL ($21.2 billion), Major League Baseball ($13.1 billion), and the NBA ($12.5 billion). Never mind that those are closed American leagues operating in a single market; the pitch is that football's global reach is being left on the table.

For the 211 member associations, the deck offers a carrot: a $20 million (£15 million) sign-up payment available as early as January 2027, and projected four-year development payments rising to $24 million per association by the 2035–39 cycle. FIFA says it intends to expand overall football development funding to $10 billion, subject to member approval.

The plan to grow revenue is ambitious. The deck references more than doubling the number of global tournaments held each year, from 200 to 450. It also raises the prospect of selling TV coverage of the World Cup and other marquee events to subscription channels or streaming platforms — a shift that could take the biggest tournament on Earth behind a paywall.

For fans, that is the thread to watch. FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed a biennial World Cup five years ago and was rebuffed. This plan doesn't resurrect that idea directly, but the instinct is the same: more events, more broadcast rights, more money flowing through the system.

There are gaps. The prospectus contains little detail about the investor group's identity, projected returns, or exit terms. Investors will be given access to a term sheet and select materials in August 2026 — before member associations have voted on the proposal. And across all 25 pages, there is not a single mention of women's football. Not one word.

FIFA has cash reserves of around $4 billion and accumulated revenues of $15 billion over the current four-year cycle. It is, by any measure, a financially healthy organisation. The pitch being made to its members is that healthy is not enough.

FIFA was approached for comment by The Guardian regarding the sales deck. Infantino has recorded a video message about the proposal, and FIFA plans to name an interim leader for the new entity, which will be governed by a board of directors.

The member associations now hold the document. What they do with it will shape the sport's commercial architecture for decades.