The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that its Executive Committee will meet next week to assess FIFA’s proposed Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative after receiving the governing body’s official proposal as part of an ongoing consultation process.
In a statement released on Wednesday, July 29, CAF said it had received correspondence from FIFA regarding the initiative, which is currently being reviewed by FIFA’s member associations and the FIFA Council.
“As part of this consultation process, the CAF President, Dr Patrice Motsepe, will host a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee next week, to, inter alia, assess and evaluate the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative,” CAF said.
The confederation also encouraged its 54 member associations to study the proposal and participate in the consultation process in accordance with FIFA and CAF regulations and established procedures.
CAF added that it remains committed to working closely with its member associations, FIFA, other continental confederations and stakeholders “in support of increasing financial and other resources for the development and growth of football in Africa and worldwide.”
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FIFA unveiled the Forward Enterprise proposal earlier this week, outlining plans to establish a new commercial entity responsible for the business operations of its competitions, including the FIFA World Cup. Under the proposal, FIFA would retain majority ownership and exclusive control over football governance while seeking to raise $4.2 billion by selling minority, non-controlling stakes to long-term investors.
The proposal remains under consultation and must secure the backing of a majority of FIFA’s 211 member associations, as well as the necessary approvals from the FIFA Council, before it can move forward.
The initiative has already drawn criticism from several continental confederations, including UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC.
UEFA questioned the proposal’s governance and transparency, while CONCACAF expressed concern over what it described as a lack of due process and consultation before details of the plan became public. Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation said in a statement that “it was not consulted (...) and is disappointed that a matter of such significance entered the public domain before the AFC family had been afforded the opportunity to examine and discuss it through the appropriate and established governance channels.”
