NEW YORK — Investor Joshua Kushner on Monday blamed power struggles within global soccer for the outrage over FIFA’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, admitting his firm “would not have gotten involved” if it had anticipated the backlash.

The first comments by venture capitalist Kushner — the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared — since the plan collapsed come as European governing body UEFA prepares a criminal case against FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

“While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to,” said Kushner, in a statement emailed to AFP.

“Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved,” added Kushner, whose firm Thrive Capital worked on the deal in private for months, and would have spearheaded the investment process.

FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) was a plan to bring private investment into FIFA events, including the World Cup, by selling stakes in a new $20 billion commercial subsidiary. FIFA said the proposal would have raised $4.2 billion to benefit poorer soccer-playing nations, and that member associations could have voted to reject it.

Critics said the plan had been hatched........

© The Times of Israel