FIFA president Gianni Infantino could have earned almost £47m ($63m) a year under a controversial plan to sell a stake in the FIFA World Cup, reports suggest.
The proposed arrangement would have increased his annual earnings by about £42m on top of his existing salary of approximately £4.5m. That would have taken his total compensation to almost £1m a week.
The plan, which has since been withdrawn after significant opposition from football organisations and national associations, involved raising £3.1bn in private investment for FIFA’s Football Future Enterprise (FFE) project.
JP Morgan was reportedly acting as an adviser to the initiative, while investment firm Thrive Capital, which is backed by Jared Kushner, was among those expected to buy a 20% stake in the venture.
Infantino had repeatedly insisted that “nobody is selling football”. However, he eventually abandoned the proposal after resistance from football’s governing bodies and FIFA member associations intensified.
UEFA was reported to have led the opposition. Its member nations threatened to boycott future FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, if the plan went ahead.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) also raised concerns about the proposal.
The Football Association supported UEFA’s position, saying: “We fully support UEFA’s position.”
The FA also called for a closer examination of FIFA’s leadership and governance, adding: “It is time for a full and robust review of FIFA’s leadership and governance to ensure that the global game is run transparently, for the benefit of all 211 member nations and with the long-term stewardship of football at its heart.”
Following the backlash, Infantino confirmed that the project would not continue.
“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 added: “Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve.”
Announcing the withdrawal, Infantino said: “As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
The FIFA president said he wanted to repair relations among the organisations and associations involved in the dispute. He said: “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.”
The proposed FFE investment model had attracted scrutiny because of the scale of the sums involved and its potential implications for the way the global game is governed. The reported impact on Infantino’s personal earnings added to the controversy surrounding the plan.
Although the proposal has been dropped, reports indicate that Infantino intends to stand for another term as FIFA president at the organisation’s 2027 elections.
