FIFA President Gianni Infantino has abandoned his controversial proposal to sell stakes in the commercial operations of the FIFA World Cup following widespread opposition from football governing bodies and senior FIFA officials.
Infantino announced on Friday that the proposal would no longer proceed after attracting criticism from across the global football community, including threats of a boycott by European nations.
The proposal sought to establish a $20 billion commercial company to manage FIFA’s flagship tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup, with 20 per cent ownership offered to private investors.
According to FIFA, the proposed anchor investor was a New York based investment firm founded by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, son in law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a statement, Infantino acknowledged that the proposal had become too divisive.
“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.”
The reversal came after growing criticism from within FIFA itself.
Carlos Cordeiro, who represented FIFA on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, resigned as a presidential adviser in protest.
“I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” Cordeiro said.
FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour also criticised the proposal, claiming staff members had not been properly informed about the plan.
According to Lamour, the proposal reflected the vision of a single individual rather than the organisation.
“It is the project of one person. Not only must this project not go ahead, but the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions.”
Opposition also came from football’s continental governing bodies.
UEFA’s 55 member associations had agreed to boycott FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, if the proposal moved forward, arguing that the commercialisation of the tournament threatened the integrity of the sport.
The organisation described the proposal as a failure of leadership and insisted that some aspects of football should never be sold to private investors.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) also voiced opposition to the proposal.
Following the decision to withdraw the plan, Infantino said FIFA would now focus on rebuilding consensus among stakeholders.
“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.
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