Joshua Kushner expresses regret over scrapped World Cup investment plan

Venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, who was set to be the lead investor in Fifa president Gianni Infantino's scrapped plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup, has publicly addressed the controversy for the first time. He admitted that he regrets joining the proposal, which sparked a major crisis for the global governing body.

Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved. Joshua Kushner

Kushner stated that he failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, though he continues to defend the motivations behind the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme. He maintained that the intention was to direct capital and equity more equally among Fifa's 211 member associations to support grassroots development and nurture local talent.

His firm, Thrive Eternal, had held talks with Infantino regarding a $4.2bn investment into 20% of a new Fifa commercial subsidiary before the project was abandoned in July following a massive outcry. The situation has intensified recently, as Uefa has approached a New York court to obtain testimony and documents from Kushner and his firm as part of its efforts to lodge a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland.

Legal submissions from Uefa argue that Infantino unilaterally designated Thrive Eternal to lead the investment group without an open, competitive auction. While Uefa claims the World Cup was deliberately undervalued, it has clarified that Kushner is not expected to be a defendant in any resulting legal proceedings.