FIFA President Gianni Infantino has announced the withdrawal of plans to allow private investment in the FIFA World Cup following strong opposition from football officials across the globe.
Infantino confirmed on Saturday that the proposal had been scrapped after attracting widespread backlash, bringing an end to a plan that had sparked intense debate within the football community.
“Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve,” Infantino said in a statement.
“As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
FIFA has withdrawn its proposal to create a new commercial subsidiary after facing growing concerns from football stakeholders over the plan’s structure and consultation process.
The world football governing body had unveiled the proposal on Tuesday, saying the new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), could generate up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion. The subsidiary was expected to manage the commercial rights of major competitions, including the FIFA World Cup and the Club World Cup.
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FIFA said the initiative, if approved, would have provided each of its 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027. It also planned to increase funding for member associations from $8 million to $20 million during the 2027–2030 cycle.
Reacting to the decision on Saturday, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which represents 47 member associations, welcomed the withdrawal of the proposal.
In a statement, the Kuala Lumpur-based confederation stressed that any initiative capable of reshaping global football should be discussed openly with confederations, the FIFA Council, member associations and other stakeholders in a timely, transparent and meaningful manner.
The Mexican Football Federation also welcomed the move, saying that “unity among all the Confederations and Federations has been prioritised for the good of football”.
Earlier this week, European football’s governing body UEFA said none of its national teams would participate in any FIFA competition “for so long as these proposals remain alive”.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and North American and Caribbean federation (CONCACAF) also condemned the move.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product,” UEFA said in a statement. “No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”
Pressure mounted on Infantino on Friday with the resignation of senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro, who called the idea “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”.
South American confederation CONMEBOL, whose president Alejandro Dominguez is regarded as a close ally of Infantino, demanded further information on the “scope, structure, governance and potential effects” of the project.
In the late-night statement announcing the plan was dead, Infantino said the project was conceived as a means of strengthening member associations, and that it would only have gone ahead if a majority supported it.
“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.
FIFA had tried to fend off the critics, saying in a statement early Friday that it would continue consultations with member associations and insisting that “nobody is selling football”.
But the pressure mounted, and not just within the football community.
A day after the European Union praised UEFA for “defending the integrity of the game,” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday that Infantino was “the wrong man” to lead FIFA.
The beleaguered Infantino said he would focus now on restoring harmony while continuing to grow the game.
“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.
