JPMorgan in Global Spotlight After FIFA Scraps Commercial Entity Plan
The banking giant JPMorgan Chase is now in the global football spotlight over its role as financial adviser in drawing up the valuation and strategy for FIFA’s proposed business venture.
As is known, FIFA had an ambitious plan to establish a new business entity that would manage the commercial rights to world football tournaments. However, the plan was officially cancelled after triggering a wave of strong opposition, particularly from European football federations. Under the scheme, FIFA would have released around 20% of the entity’s shares to private investors at a valuation of up to US$20 billion.
Behind the proposal, the largest investment bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase, served as its financial adviser. In the proposal prepared by JPMorgan, FIFA planned to separate the management of the commercial rights to its major competitions into a new company.
Citing The Wall Street Journal, FIFA President Gianni Infantino had held discussions on the matter at least since last year with Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law.
The plan was kept secret for months and took executives by surprise when it finally leaked on Tuesday, immediately triggering a fierce reaction.
FIFA had previously considered carrying out the corporate action around the close of the World Cup in New York, but ultimately decided to postpone it. Eventually, FIFA announced on Friday night that the plan had been cancelled.
The separation of the FIFA entity was expected to streamline decision-making, prioritise profitable partnerships, attract experienced talent, and improve access to capital.
In JPMorgan’s presentation, the deal was estimated to generate millions of dollars for FIFA members, enabling them to invest heavily in development.
It could potentially pave the way for FIFA to have 650,000 players between 2027 and 2030 and 450 competitions, including women’s and youth programmes, both more than double the current figures.
It was also noted that FIFA has long been under-monetised compared with other sports leagues. “This model has been very successful in other sports,” the presentation stated.
UEFA, which governs European football, swiftly rejected the deal and declared that none of its member national teams would participate in any FIFA competition whilst these proposals remained on the table.
Infantino has long sought to win support from Trump. When FIFA awarded its peace prize to Trump, Infantino wrote in a social media post that the president had taken extraordinary and special actions to promote peace and unity around the world.
“Trump can always count on my support, and the support of the entire football community, to help bring about peace and prosperity across the world,” he wrote, quoted on Monday (3/8/2026).
This week, Trump told journalists that he had not discussed the FIFA deal with Infantino.
Privately, executives at rival banks were quick to suggest that JPMorgan had once again been caught in football’s hell, after the bank apologised for its involvement in the European Super League of 2021, which collapsed completely within 48 hours.
At the time, JPMorgan had pledged around US$4 billion in financing to realise the new Super League. The bank worked with 12 clubs, including Manchester United, Barcelona, and Juventus.
“We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might affect them going forward,” a bank spokesman said at the time.
“We will learn from this,” he added.
Within JPMorgan, the prevailing view is that the FIFA deal differs from the Super League. Partly because the deal was not intended to change competitions.
The presentation stated that FIFA would retain sole control and exclusive authority over governance, competitions, regulations, and sporting decisions in any future scenario.