FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced on Saturday that the organisation has scrapped a plan to allow private investment in the World Cup, following fierce backlash from football officials worldwide.
“Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed,” Infantino said in a statement.
FIFA, world football’s governing body, had floated the plan on Tuesday, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a $20 billion valuation for a new FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a commercial subsidiary proposed to run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.
The plan would have given each of FIFA’s 211 member associations a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027, and raised their funding allocation for the 2027–2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.
Confederations and Officials Push Back Hard
The proposal quickly drew opposition from football’s regional bodies. European football’s governing body UEFA said none of its national teams would participate in any FIFA competition while the proposal remained active.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale,” UEFA said.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the North American and Caribbean federation (CONCACAF) also condemned the move, while South American confederation CONMEBOL, led by an Infantino ally, demanded further details on the project’s structure and governance.
Pressure intensified Friday when senior FIFA advisor Carlos Cordeiro resigned, calling the plan “a bad deal for FIFA’s member associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game.”
Even outside football, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Infantino was “the wrong man” to lead FIFA, a day after the European Union praised UEFA for defending the game’s integrity.
Infantino Says Plan ‘Created Divisions’
In a late-night statement announcing the plan’s withdrawal, Infantino said the project was meant to strengthen member associations and would only have proceeded with majority support.
“Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” he said.
The Asian Football Confederation welcomed the withdrawal, saying any initiative affecting global football should be discussed transparently with confederations, member associations and other stakeholders.
The Mexican Football Federation also welcomed the decision, citing the importance of unity across confederations.
Infantino said he now plans to focus on restoring harmony within football’s governing bodies.
“Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support,” he said.
I agree with the opposing counsels, it should not be privatised or an investment lobby. Good call by the regional football federations, I did notice that there was no mention of the African regional football federation statement, or we do not have one? If so, we should, Europe, Asia, America has, why does Africa not have one? And if we had and they kept quiet, hmm.