FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s abandoned plan to raise $4.2bn by selling a minority stake in a new World Cup commercial company has deepened the organization’s internal crisis, with senior officials publicly distancing themselves from the project.
The proposal was withdrawn on Saturday, August 1, after opposition from UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation, followed by the resignation of Infantino adviser Carlos Cordeiro and criticism from Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour. The dispute now threatens Infantino’s authority ahead of FIFA’s 2027 presidential election.
At a glance:
- The proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise was valued at about $20bn and would have sold 20 percent to private investors.
- Infantino said on August 1 that the proposal would not proceed because it had created divisions inside football.
- Secretary General Mattias Grafström and FIFA football-development chief Arsène Wenger later separated themselves from the plan.
- Infantino is seeking a third and final term, with nominations due November 18 and the election scheduled for March 2027.
How the proposal unraveled
FIFA’s plan would have placed the organization’s commercial activities—including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing, licensing and major events—inside a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise. The company was presented as a way to attract private capital and increase distributions to FIFA’s 211 member associations, while FIFA retained formal control over football governance and the international calendar.
Related coverage: Fifa faces backlash over $20bn World Cup commercial rights sale proposal.
The proposal instead produced a rapid backlash because national federations and FIFA officials said they had not been properly consulted. UEFA’s 55 associations threatened to boycott FIFA competitions while the plan remained in place, and CONCACAF and the AFC also rejected it. Infantino then said the divisions had undermined the purpose of the project and withdrew it.
Senior officials distance themselves
Cordeiro resigned on Friday, July 31, saying he could not support selling a stake in the World Cup and describing the proposal as a bad deal for football. Lamour later told The Associated Press that staff had been deceived by the lack of openness surrounding the plan and called it the project of one person.
On Tuesday, August 4, Grafström sent FIFA employees an email describing the events surrounding the abandoned project as sad and reproachable. He urged staff to focus on serving football and the 211 member associations, without naming Infantino. Wenger also said he had not been involved and learned of the proposal through media reports.
More context: FIFA’s proposal to sell minority stakes in World Cup faces UEFA backlash.
Why Infantino’s presidency is at stake
The immediate proposal has ended, but the political consequences remain. UEFA and CONCACAF have publicly said they lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership, while the AFC called the lack of consultation totally unacceptable and demanded institutional reform. The open disagreement from FIFA’s secretary general adds pressure from inside the administration as well as from regional confederations.
Infantino has built much of his influence through support from national associations that depend on FIFA funding and development payments. The failed plan was pitched partly through promises of larger future distributions, so opponents must now challenge that financial appeal as well as his leadership. The election is scheduled for March 2027, giving rival federations months to organize, but no replacement candidate has been confirmed.
Also read: Uefa faces critical moment to challenge Fifa’s new World Cup funding scheme.
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