FIFA has abandoned a contentious plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to outside investors, bowing to days of mounting pressure from football’s most powerful confederations. FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed on Friday evening that the proposal, which had triggered an extraordinary backlash across the sport, would not go ahead.
The scheme, unveiled only days earlier, would have seen FIFA sell roughly a fifth of a newly created commercial arm overseeing the World Cup and other tournaments, in a deal reportedly capable of raising more than four billion dollars. The international football governing body framed the plan as a way to unlock fresh funding for grassroots and development programmes around the world, and pushed back against what it described as inaccurate media coverage of the proposal.
That defence did little to calm the storm. UEFA, European football’s governing body, was the fiercest opponent, warning that turning the World Cup into a commercial asset would strike at the heart of the game. Its member associations voted unanimously to boycott FIFA competitions unless the plan was dropped. CONCACAF, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, rejected the idea at a meeting of its own, and the Asian Football Confederation followed by declaring its support for the opposition. Together, those three confederations account for well over half of FIFA’s 211 member associations, leaving the plan with little realistic chance of winning the majority it needed.
The resistance was not confined to national federations. Infantino faced dissent from within FIFA itself, with senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigning immediately and calling the arrangement a poor outcome for football. FIFA’s own chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, went further, suggesting staff had been misled and describing the initiative as driven by a single individual rather than the organisation as a whole. That internal criticism added to the sense that FIFA had misjudged how the plan would be received, both by its membership and by the wider football community.
Announcing the reversal, Infantino said that after listening to the range of views expressed, it was evident the project had caused divisions that outweighed whatever backing it had. He insisted FIFA’s underlying purpose remained to unite and strengthen the sport, and said the proposal would now be shelved. He added that he intended to bring the various parties back together in the coming weeks to keep working on ways to grow the game, particularly in nations that rely most on FIFA’s support.
The plan had also carried political undertones. The group reportedly lined up to lead the investment was tied to Thrive Capital, a fund founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, a son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump. Infantino has cultivated a close relationship with Trump, whose country co-hosted this year’s World Cup, though the White House said the two men had not discussed the investment scheme directly.
The episode lands at a delicate moment for FIFA and its president. Infantino is due to stand for re-election next year, and reports suggest Victor Montagliani, the head of North American football, could mount a challenge. The controversy has already drawn political criticism beyond football’s own institutions, with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham suggesting Infantino was unsuited to leading the organisation.
For now, FIFA’s climbdown draws a line under one of the more turbulent internal disputes the governing body has faced in recent years. Whether the underlying tension between FIFA’s ambitions for new revenue and its members’ resistance to outside ownership resurfaces in another form remains to be seen, but for the moment the World Cup will stay fully in FIFA’s hands.
