FIFA has abandoned its plan to sell a stake in its World Cup business to private investors after the proposal triggered fierce opposition from national football associations around the world, president Gianni Infantino announced on Friday.
“The project has created divisions of a nature that are no longer in the interest of the objective,” Infantino said in a statement. He added that FIFA’s purpose has always been to unite and improve the sport, and said he intends to bring all parties back together in the coming weeks to keep growing football globally.
Infantino unveiled the plan on Tuesday. It called for FIFA to spin off a new subsidiary worth an estimated $20 billion to run the World Cup and other major competitions. The plan proposed selling roughly a 20 percent stake in that subsidiary to outside investors, aiming to raise up to $4.2 billion.
Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm led by Josh Kushner, was reported as the lead investor group behind the deal.
The backlash started almost immediately. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which represents 55 European football associations, held an emergency meeting on Thursday and voted unanimously to boycott every FIFA competition, including the World Cup, unless FIFA dropped the plan entirely.
The organization argued that handing ownership stakes to private investors would permanently reshape the sport, turning commercial return into a constant obligation. UEFA said in a statement that “some things are simply too important to sell.”
Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), the governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, also rejected the proposal after meeting on Thursday, saying that FIFA was “losing sight of its values.”
The Asian Football Confederation raised similar concerns, stressing that FIFA had failed to consult its member associations before announcing the plan. Both organizations stopped short of threatening a boycott.
Pressure inside FIFA grew on Friday when Carlos Cordeiro, one of Infantino’s senior advisors, resigned in protest. FIFA’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, also criticized how the plan had been pushed through with little consultation, describing it as a serious lack of respect toward the organisation’s members.
The collapse of the plan marks a significant setback for Infantino, who is seeking re-election as FIFA president next year and had described the proposal as a step toward greater financial transparency.
He had entered the week with pledges of support from roughly 200 of FIFA’s 211 member associations, but the scale of opposition from UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC has raised questions about his standing heading into the vote.
