Over the past decade, gas-rich Gulf monarchy Qatar has turned itself into the world’s diplomatic switchboard, inserting itself into some of the most intractable international crises — from Afghanistan and Gaza to Ukraine and Sudan — while maintaining relations with both the U.S. and Iran. It also hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup as the culmination of a journey toward becoming a sports powerhouse sustained by deep investment.
As European soccer’s most influential business executive, al-Khelaifi is an intriguing candidate for the top job at FIFA. Backed by Qatar’s vast wealth, he has overseen a period of unprecedented success for Paris Saint-Germain, which has become Europe’s top soccer team. Al-Khelaifi stepped in to steady the club umbrella group, then called the European Clubs Association, in April 2021, when a breakaway plot by 12 top European clubs to create a “super league” threatened to blow up the continent’s soccer establishment.
On Wednesday evening, a representative for al-Khelaifi said: “Nasser has absolutely no ambition, no intention, no interest in the FIFA role, and he will continue to discreetly support all the institutions of world and European football.”
“The stars have aligned,” said one European Union official, who is closely monitoring FIFA’s plan to sell stakes in its competitions, about the prospect of al-Khelaifi running the world governing body. “Whether he steps up is another thing.”
Earlier Wednesday, FIFA told its member associations that they had until Sept. 19 to sign up to Infantino’s plan, which would spin off a new company from the Swiss-based nonprofit that oversees international soccer. FIFA Forward Enterprise would own and manage the commercial rights to FIFA competitions — including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing, licensing and related businesses.
Most controversially, it would sell a 20 percent stake in that company to private investors, valuing the business at around $20 billion.
A venture capital firm headed by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law and “volunteer” diplomat Jared Kushner, is lined up as the lead investor in the proposed deal — the latest sign of the American president’s influence over soccer’s governing body.
