Germany poised to challenge FIFA's World Cup privatization plan

Bernd Neuendorf, president of Germany's football association, learned about FIFA's plan to sell a stake in the World Cup the same way most people did: by reading the newspaper. It was Tuesday when Gianni Infantino announced his scheme to create a commercial subsidiary and hand it over to private investors. Neuendorf, who sits on FIFA's Council—the body the organization calls its main decision-making apparatus—had been kept entirely in the dark.

"That's no way to treat people," Neuendorf said afterward. He called the process "extremely troubling," pointing out that council members are supposed to actively participate in decisions and express their opinions. At FIFA, he suggested, that wasn't happening. Not on important issues. Certainly not on this one. His core objection was sharper still: "We must not let it become a pawn in the hands of investors. We must not lose the fans' support, but we are well on our way to squandering that support. I consider this extremely problematic and unacceptable."

Neuendorf was not alone. Bayern Munich's board member for sport, Max Eberl, told Sky he was ashamed the sport was even discussing such ideas. "I have the feeling that FIFA exists solely to make a profit. It disgusts me," he said. Borussia Dortmund's CEO Carsten Cramer called the initiative "not a good idea at all." Stuttgart's Alexander Wehrle warned that "driving the commercialization of football in this direction without even a semblance of a common, sensible goal would send a disastrous message." The objections came not just from executives but from fans on social media and from the pitch itself. Jürgen Klopp, Germany's new national team manager working as a television pundit during the tournament, was blunt: "This is our game, not theirs. These two people (Infantino and Trump), who both have no idea about football, should have nothing to do with that."

Germany's resistance to Infantino carries weight. The country remains influential within European football's governing body, UEFA, and will likely be a key voice when that organization meets to discuss the proposal. Neuendorf made a striking prediction: if UEFA rejects the plan, it dies. No investor, he suggested, would move forward without the approval of European football's governing structure. UEFA has only 55 of FIFA's 211 votes, but it is the most powerful confederation within the organization, and with leadership from a nation like Germany, Infantino may begin to feel genuine pressure.

This is not Infantino's first clash with German football. Earlier in the year, Germany declined to sign a document recommending his re-election. The Balogun case—when FIFA suspended a World Cup red-card ban for the American striker following an intervention from US President Donald Trump—had already strained relations. Germany's hesitation to repeat its 2022 protest against FIFA's restrictions on the rainbow armband suggested the federation was trying to pick its battles carefully.

But the federation also knows it cannot ignore its own fans. In 2024, the DFL, which operates the Bundesliga, was forced to abandon plans to sell a share of its television rights to foreign investors after fan protests that included tennis balls and remote control cars with smoke bombs being thrown onto the pitch. In May, fans of Bayern and Stuttgart unfurled a banner with a crossed-out DFB logo at the German Cup final, protesting high ticket prices. These actions are commonplace in German football, where the 50+1 ownership model—which bars single investors from owning a majority stake in a club—ensures fans retain more power than in most other European nations.

Meanwhile, the DFL has received what it calls an "unsolicited proposal" for a debt financing model. According to the German newspaper Bild, the finance firm Apollo is looking to loan the Bundesliga at least one billion euros, with domestic media rights serving as collateral. Any move by the DFL to accept such a deal would likely face fierce opposition from fan groups already on edge about commercialization.

Infantino will likely retain control of FIFA unless other confederations—particularly those from Africa and Asia—join Germany and UEFA in opposition. But with a powerful European nation now openly challenging both his methods and his vision, the ground beneath his presidency has begun to shift.