Until Infantino’s arrival in 2016, FIFA had largely stayed in its lane when it came to club soccer, content with organizing and monetizing the World Cup, the multibillion-dollar tournament featuring national teams which is responsible for more than 90 percent of FIFA’s revenue. Since becoming FIFA president, however, he has pushed harder and faster than any of his predecessors for world soccer’s governing body to get a slice of the riches available in the club game.

Last year, he was forced to abandon a plan to close a $25 billion agreement with a group led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank for two new events, including an expanded World Cup for clubs, after opposition from members of FIFA’s board, led by Ceferin, and representative bodies for leagues and clubs.

That setback led FIFA to change its approach. It first sought approval for the quadrennial club world championship, and scrapped an idea for a national team league, before saying it would go to market with the event. But for the past months, it has held talks with CVC Capital Partners, the former majority owner of the Formula One racing series. CVC, one of the world’s largest private-equity firms, also has significant investments in sports like rugby and motorcycle racing.

The Financial Times reported last week that the company has spoken with both FIFA and Real Madrid, and is interested in being a partner with FIFA for competitions and events beyond a single four-year tournament. A spokesman for CVC declined to comment.

Other companies have also expressed interest in the project, including Infront Sports & Media, a sports marketing company owned by the Dalian Wanda Group, one of FIFA’s main sponsors. Officials there, and at least two other businesses interested in the tournament, expressed surprise that FIFA had not held preliminary discussions with them ahead of issuing its request for offers, but also at the short window to create a plan in time for the Dec. 19 deadline.