Billionaire investor Joshua Kushner has expressed regret over his involvement in FIFA’s abandoned $20 billion commercial-rights proposal, which offered potentially billions of dollars to African football associations.
Kushner, the founder of Thrive Capital and younger brother of Jared Kushner, said his firm would have avoided the project had it understood the political controversy it would generate, *Reuters *reported.
Jared Kushner is US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Thrive was expected to become an anchor investor in FIFA Forward Enterprise, a proposed company that would have controlled commercial rights linked to the World Cup and other FIFA competitions.
The plan valued the operation at approximately $20 billion and would have offered private investors a 20% interest in exchange for roughly $4.2 billion.
FIFA withdrew the proposal on July 31 following resistance from football authorities in Europe, Asia and North America.
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**Why the offer appealed to Africa**
FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented the transaction as a way to increase the amount distributed to national associations.
Participating associations could reportedly have received up to $20 million in expanded development funding and another $20 million through an additional programme between 2027 and 2030.
That produced the headline figure of up to $40 million per association.
Africa has 54 FIFA members. If each had qualified for the maximum amount, the theoretical allocation to the continent would have reached $2.16 billion.
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That figure is a calculation, not money awarded, guaranteed or transferred to Africa. The exact conditions, payment schedule and individual allocations were never finalised.
The proposal nevertheless attracted support from African football leaders. Morocco, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Mauritania and Comoros were among the countries whose officials backed Infantino, while the Confederation of African Football supported the push for greater development funding.
Many African associations depend heavily on FIFA money for pitches, training facilities, administration and national competitions. That made the promised increase particularly attractive.
However, critics questioned whether selling part of FIFA’s commercial operation would give private investors influence over football’s most valuable assets.
The controversy has since entered a legal phase. UEFA is seeking documents in the United States as it considers a possible complaint in Switzerland concerning how the proposal was developed.
No court has found Infantino, Kushner or Thrive Capital guilty of a crime or regulatory breach.
Kushner’s new comments do not establish that the investment was unlawful. They show that one of its most important prospective financiers now believes the process created reputational and political risks his firm did not anticipate.