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Good morning football fans. It’s Wednesday, 29. July - FIFA is trying to sell 20% of the World Cup to private investors, UEFA refines its VAR protocols for the upcoming season, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
TOP TALKING POINTS
FIFA’s World Cup Sale
FIFA is planning to sell a 20% stake in the World Cup valued at around $20bn, as world football’s governing body aims to cash in on the success of this summer’s tournament. The governing body plans to create a new entity, called Fifa Forward Enterprise, to house its commercial operations, meaning investors would acquire a minority share of the business that generates revenue from Fifa’s competitions. Fifa expects to generate more than $15bn in its current four-year cycle, which runs through the end of 2026.
Fifa confirmed that Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital is expected to lead the proposed investor group through Thrive Eternal. Kushner is the younger brother of Jared, who is married to President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump. Sources say Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who awarded Trump the inaugural Fifa “peace prize” in December, would be lined up to run the company as a commissioner once his final presidential term expires, which could be in 2031. Fifa has denied that Infantino has been lined up for the role.
Uefa has vehemently opposed the proposal, stating that it "crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” adding that the “soul and governance of football are not assets to trade - especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially.” European nations will also discuss potentially boycotting the World Cup if Fifa chooses to pursue the sale.
If the new venture does materialise, there are concerns that private investors could put pressure on Fifa to maximise revenue through competition expansion or influence hosting and scheduling decisions based on commercial viability.
VAR Protocol Refined
The “lengthy, microscoping reviews” caused by VAR suggest the technology has gone beyond its original scope, according to European refereeing officials. During a meeting last week, chief refereeing officers from all 55 European national FAs concluded that VAR must return to what it was originally intended to do and only intervene in situations of “clear and obvious” error. The guidance restates the existing protocol rather than introducing a new one.
"VAR is not meant to re-referee the game, it is an essential support to the referees, who must remain at the centre of all decision-making,” Uefa said in a statement. The original philosophy of VAR, approved for inclusion in the 2018–19 Laws of the Game, was to have “minimum interference – maximum benefit” and to reduce unfairness caused by clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents that are potentially match-altering.
Figures cited in February 2026 showed that the Premier League had the lowest VAR intervention rate among Europe’s major domestic leagues, at 0.27 per match during the 2025–26 season. Meanwhile, the Champions League and Ligue 1 had the most interventions per game (0.47). At the time, Uefa refereeing chief Roberto Rosetti said “we forgot the reason why VAR was introduced,” criticising the “microscopic” interventions.
Canada’s Football Fanfare
Football has become the most popular sport for Canadians aged 18 to 29, overtaking hockey, according to a national survey conducted by Abacus Data. It is also the favourite sport for Canadians not born in Canada. The survey of 1,500 respondents, large enough for the results to be accurate within about 2.5 percentage points, was conducted just days before the 2026 World Cup concluded.
Amongst all age groups, football is the country’s second-favourite sport, with 12% of respondents identifying it as their favourite sport to watch or play, with hockey leading the way at 32%. The research also found that 54% of Canadian adults now have at least some interest in football, an increase of six percentage points since research was conducted in May 2026. This increase is the equivalent of nearly two million more Canadians and brings the total number of Canadians interested in the sport to nearly 18 million adults. Canada has a population of around 41.5 million, according to data from Statistics Canada.
Further, following the World Cup, the Canada men’s national team is now the seventh-favourite team in the country, while the women’s national team is the second-favourite among women’s teams.
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POLL
How do you feel about FIFA selling a stake in its commercial business?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Zinedine Zidane has been confirmed as the new head coach of the France national team, replacing Didier Deschamps (More) | Roberto Mancini has become Italy’s new head coach for a second spell, with Claudio Ranieri named technical director (More)
> La Liga chief Javier Tebas has called Gianni Infantino’s Instagram statement calling out critics of the World Cup “pathetic” (More)
> The Women’s League Cup will be renamed the Players Cup with an all-new league system for the 2026-27 season (More) | England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton has signed a new two-year contract with Chelsea Women (More)
> Josko Gvardiol has signed a new five-year contract with Manchester City that will see him through to 2031 (More) | Savinho is open to leaving Man City amid interest from Tottenham Hotspur (More)
Americas
> The MLS All-Star vs Liga MX All-Star game kicks off at 20:00 ET on Wednesday (July 29) at Charlotte FC’s Bank of America Stadium; see the full MLS roster (More)
> Football’s lawmakers Ifab clarified its guidance to referees on mistaken identity, which confirmed Switzerland forward Breel Embolo should not have been sent off in the World Cup quarter-finals against Argentina (More)
> The top Democrat of the House judiciary committee has launched an investigation into Fifa president Gianni Infantino (More)
> CBS Sports has secured the rights for all 137 matches of the Concacaf Club Competitions to stream on Paramount+ (More)
Rest of the World
> Chelsea beat Western Sydney 6-4 in Xabi Alonso’s first game in charge, including a Joao Pedro nine-minute hat-trick, as part of the club’s Australia and New Zealand tour (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think pre-season results are important?
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (15%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (82%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 J.P.L: “While results in pre-season friendlies don't matter per se, if your first-division team goes out and loses to a couple of 4th-division teams, does that fill you with confidence? Heck no. A loss or two isn't bad, but you definitely like to see that what your team's coach is putting in place actually works most of the time.”
🙅♂️ J.S: “Preseason is a time to evaluate players, strategies, fitness, etc. Results don’t matter other than for morale.”
✍️ L.V: “Yes, but only in the sense that it gives the manager and coaches a fair assessment of the roster's basic soundness of construction, while also providing them a clear vision of deficiencies which need to be addressed.”
EXTRA TIME
Cristiano to star in and produce a TV series about a fictional football agent. (reportedly)
The official trailer for Jose Mourinho’s Netflix documentary.
… and Ted Lasso Season 4 trailer has dropped.
How Michele Kang has turned London City Lionesses into title contenders.
Why Chelsea want to sign older players.
FPL 2026/27 changes explained.
… and 14 value players for Gameweek 1.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Can you name the last seven permanent Manchester United managers since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013?
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
For five years, I received offers to take over a club, and I turned them all down for the sake of France, because that’s the only thing I wanted to do after my career. I’ve spent the last four or five years waiting for this day.
Answer
David Moyes. Louis van Gaal. Jose Mourinho. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Erik ten Hag. Ruben Amorim. Michael Carrick.