FIFA president Gianni Infantino has withdrawn a proposal to sell minority stakes in the organisation’s competitions to private investors after opposition from leading football confederations created divisions within the governing body.
Infantino said the plan had moved away from its original purpose and was “no longer in the interest” of that objective.
“As a result, this proposal will not proceed,” the Swiss official added.
The proposal would have offered FIFA’s 211 member associations $40m (£30m) each if they supported private investment in tournaments including the men’s and women’s World Cups.
But UEFA, European football’s governing body, had threatened to boycott future World Cups if the plan went ahead. CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) also rejected the proposal, while other football authorities raised concerns about the way it had been developed.
FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said on Friday that the organisation’s own administration had been “deceived” about the project.
Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned over the issue. He described the proposal as “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future”.
CONCACAF, which governs football in North, Central America and the Caribbean and is hosting this summer’s World Cup, said its members had “rejected” the plan. Sources said the vast majority of associations in the region were losing, or had lost, faith in Infantino.
The AFC said it stood in “solidarity” with UEFA and CONCACAF. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham also said Infantino was “the wrong man” to lead FIFA.
The decision comes as Infantino faces pressure ahead of his bid for a fourth term as FIFA president at the organisation’s Congress in March.
“Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve,” the 56-year-old said in a statement.
“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.”
AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa welcomed the withdrawal.
“The future of global football must always be shaped through proper consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our game,” he said.
Why the plan was unlikely to pass
Despite the opposition from UEFA and CONCACAF, FIFA initially insisted on Friday that it would continue with the proposal, saying “nobody is selling football”.
Infantino needed the support of a majority of FIFA’s 211 member associations, meaning at least 106 votes were required.
That target became increasingly difficult after the AFC joined UEFA and CONCACAF in opposing the plan. UEFA has 55 member associations, CONCACAF has 35 and the AFC has 46. If all of those associations followed the position of their confederations, 136 votes would have been against the proposal.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) had said they would discuss the plans in August.
South American football’s governing body, CONMEBOL, said it had asked FIFA for “additional information and clarifications” about the proposals’ “scope, structure, governance and possible effects”.
FIFA and Infantino had wanted to establish a commercial subsidiary to operate the organisation’s main events, including its World Cups. External investors would have been invited to buy minority stakes in the new company, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
The proposal invited “third parties to make minority, non-controlling investments” in FFE. Infantino set 19 September as the deadline for federations to accept the plan if they wanted to receive an initial $20m (£15m).
A 25-page document prepared by investment bank JP Morgan outlined how FIFA’s competitions could expand to produce an estimated increased payment of 24m euros (£20.5m) for each member association during the 2035-39 cycle.
The document referred to “new business initiatives” and “attracting top talent with incentive-driven compensation”. It described the World Cup as the “most widely viewed” sporting event, while saying FIFA itself was “under-monetised”.
The women’s game was not mentioned in the document.
FIFA said Thrive Eternal was expected to lead the proposed investment group for FFE. Thrive is an American venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared.
Trump addressed the proposals for the first time on Friday and said he had not discussed the plans with Infantino. The pair have developed a close relationship since Trump began his second term in office in 2025.
Pressure on Infantino before re-election bid
Infantino became FIFA president in 2016 after defeating AFC president Sheikh Salman by 115 votes to 88.
FIFA’s next president will be confirmed at the organisation’s 77th Congress in Morocco next March, with candidates required to declare their bids by 18 November.
Before the controversy emerged this week, Infantino had been expected to be re-elected without opposition. Associations in several parts of the world, including some in Europe, had already indicated they intended to vote for him.
It is now unclear whether the events of the past few days will lead to a widespread withdrawal of that support.
Infantino said the proposal had been designed to strengthen member associations, “especially in countries where support is most needed”. However, the plan prompted divisions inside FIFA.
Cordeiro, who represented FIFA on the White House taskforce for the 2026 World Cup, is the first senior figure at the organisation to resign because of the proposal.
In a lengthy statement, he said he “unequivocally” opposed the plans and “did not accept the proposition” that FIFA needed outside investors to “unlock greater value”. He also said he had not been involved in developing the proposal.
It is understood Infantino did not tell some of FIFA’s eight vice-presidents about the plan. The project was reportedly capable of raising $10bn (£7.5bn).
Lamour called it “the project of one person” and said “a president must bring people together, unite them, and inspire them” but that the proposal was “the opposite”.
“If that means I lose my job, then so be it,” he added. “I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight.”
The plan was abandoned only two days after reports about it first emerged. A senior figure in English football had compared the potential impact of the controversy with the European Super League, although there were no fan protests on the streets.
Infantino, described as an astute politician, recognised that the numbers were against him and chose to withdraw the proposal rather than risk further damage to his reputation.
The immediate crisis has passed, but he now faces the task of rebuilding relationships across football.
In its statement, the AFC said the issue extended beyond the proposal itself.
“The AFC considers this issue extends far beyond a single proposal,” it said. “Rather, it has exposed fundamental weaknesses in Fifa’s consultation and decision-making processes that must now be addressed.”
Infantino will therefore need to address concerns about how the project was handled. The longer-term question is whether he can repair the damage and restore confidence before FIFA’s next presidential election.
