Football Australia asks for further clarification regarding FIFA sell-off proposal

[p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/soccer-world-championship-fifa-president-infantino-planning-to-sell-shares-in-world-cup-to-private-investors/roDBXhDT/"]world governing body announced on Tuesday[/a] a plan to create a semi-private subsidiary which would sell part of its business operations in the World Cup and other competitions, hoping to raise $4.2 billion.[/p][p]It sparked a furious backlash, but Football Australia said they had been contacted by but needed more information before formulating a response.[/p][p]"[b]Football Australia can confirm it has received correspondence from FIFA regarding its latest commercial proposal,[/b]" said a statement.[/p][p]"As this is the first time we have been made aware of the initiative, we are now working to understand the proposal in full.[/p][p]"We have requested further information from FIFA to properly assess the strategic, commercial, and governance implications of such a significant step.[/p][p]"[b]We will only be able to form a position after receiving this information and engaging in further dialogue with our peer member associations and our confederation[/b]."[/p][embed guid="4ed01ee0-bb3f-476f-9fdf-a5354f0acf7a" url="https://x.com/UEFA/status/2082125178440401072" social-type="twitter" /][p]The plan would have to be approved by FIFA's 38-member council and the majority of its 211 member associations.[/p][p]FIFA president Gianni Infantino championed the proposal as "[b]a golden opportunity to turbocharge the development of the game globally[/b]".[/p][p]But critics, led by UEFA, said it "[b]crosses a line[/b]" and the "[b]soul and governance of football are not assets to trade[/b]".[/p]