Football Australia (FA) has been caught by surprise by FIFA's controversial bid to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
But soccer's cash-strapped governing body in Australia won't yet condemn or support the proposal dividing the world game, instead requesting more information from FIFA.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has set a September 19 deadline for the 211 member federations, including FA, to accept one-off $A29 million offers as part of its project.
Infantino set out the "singular and unique funding opportunity" in a letter detailing why he wants to create a FIFA subsidiary - 20 per cent owned by private investors - that would run its competitions and events like the men's and women's World Cups and Club World Cups.
The proposed $US20 billion ($A29 billion) FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) subsidiary, revealed on Tuesday and backed by Joshua Kushner's investment firm Thrive Capital, has run into a storm of criticism.
UEFA swiftly condemned the plan and intends to call their 55 member federations to an emergency online meeting later this week.
Concerns have also been aired by soccer's ruling bodies in Asia and North America, with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) expressing its disappointment that it had not been consulted on the proposal.
FA issued a non-committal statement on Wednesday.
"Football Australia can confirm it has received correspondence from FIFA regarding its latest commercial proposal." FA said.
"As this is the first time we have been made aware of the initiative, we are now working to understand the proposal in full.
"We have requested further information from FIFA to properly assess the strategic, commercial and governance implications of such a significant step.
"We will only be able to form a position after receiving this information, and engaging in further dialogue with our peer member associations and our confederation."
Soccer players' union, Professional Footballers Australia, said it was "disturbed" by a lack of transparency and consultation.
"At a time when football desperately requires greater transparency, accountability and good governance, proposals of this significance raise questions about who the game is run by and in whose interests," chief executive Beau Busch said.
"We are equally concerned about the pressure being placed on member associations, including Football Australia, to expeditiously consider this proposal when it will have profound and irreversible consequences for the ownership and governance of football's premier competitions.
"FIFA World Cups are the pinnacle of our sport. They belong to the global football community and are built on the efforts of generations of footballers and billions of passionate fans ... these tournaments should not be for sale."
If FIFA's member associations reject the plan, their earnings will only be $US2.7 billion ($A3.9 billion) - almost 75 per cent less.
The cash difference on offer to FIFA members appears to be $US86 million ($A124 million) over 12 years compared to about $US36 million ($A52 million) in existing promised funding for rejecting the private equity deal.
Many national associations are likely to be tempted by the money and FIFA's one-member, one-vote system means the most powerful soccer nations on the field easily can be outvoted.
With AP
