FIFA abandons controversial World Cup investment plan

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has announced that the organisation is scrapping a controversial proposal to bring in private investors by selling off stakes in its major competitions. Infantino said it had become clear the project had “created divisions” that were no longer in the interest of its original objective, adding: “As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”

Under the original plan, each of FIFA’s 211 member associations was offered $40m (£30m) in exchange for backing private investment in tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups. However, European football’s governing body UEFA, which has 55 member associations, voted on Thursday to boycott the World Cups if the plans went ahead.

FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said 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 matter, calling the proposal “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future.”

Two other major confederations subsequently spoke out against the plan. Concacaf, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean and hosted this summer’s World Cup, said its members had rejected the proposal, with sources indicating that the vast majority of associations from the region are losing or have lost faith in Infantino. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) expressed solidarity with UEFA and Concacaf. Andy Burnham said Infantino was “the wrong man” to lead FIFA.

Infantino, 56, now faces significant pressure as he seeks a fourth term as FIFA president at the organisation’s congress in March. He said he intends to “bring all interested parties back together” in a spirit of shared interest in football.