Fifa has abandoned its World Cup stake sale plan after a fierce backlash from football officials across the world, ending a proposal that would have opened its biggest competitions to private investment. The reversal came after president Gianni Infantino said the idea had split the game and was no longer serving its original purpose.
Infantino said the project had created divisions and that it would not go ahead. The proposal had offered each of Fifa’s 211 member associations $40 million if they backed the plan, which covered the men’s and women’s World Cups and other major tournaments. It also came with a deadline for federations to accept the deal if they wanted access to an initial $20 million payment.
The World Cup stake sale plan drew resistance from several corners of the sport almost immediately. Europe’s 55 member associations, through Uefa, voted to boycott World Cups if the plan moved forward. Concacaf, which represents football in North, Central America and the Caribbean, said its members rejected the proposal. The Asian Football Confederation later said it stood in solidarity with Uefa and Concacaf.
Inside Fifa, the pushback was just as sharp. Chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said the organisation’s own administration had been deceived about the project. Carlos Cordeiro, one of Infantino’s senior advisers, resigned over the dispute and called the proposal a bad deal for football that would mortgage the game’s future. He said he had no role in putting the plan together.
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, welcomed the withdrawal and said the future of global football should be shaped through consultation, dialogue and respect for the sport’s governance structures. The plan had also drawn criticism from Uefa, which argued that football was not Fifa’s to sell and said the governing body had crossed a line.
