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Fifa president Gianni Infantino has abandoned his divisive plan to sell a stake in World Cup profits to private equity after facing opposition from across world football.
His decision came after his senior adviser, who sat on a White House panel, resigned and Asia’s football body joined Europe and North America in opposing the plan.
“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 interests of the objective set out in the first place,” Infantino said in a statement yesterday.
“Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
Infantino proposed creating a $20bn (R331bn) company to run the World Cup with private investors, including the Kushner family, but drew backlash that grew every day since Tuesday’s announcement.
On Thursday, Uefa’s 55-member nations agreed to boycott the World Cup and all other Fifa competitions over Infantino’s plan. North America’s Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation also said they opposed the plan.
Too important to sell
“Some things are simply too important to sell. The Fifa World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale,” Uefa said.
Infantino’s senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker who represented the soccer body on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, resigned on Friday and urged other senior Fifa staff to speak out.
“I cannot stand by while Fifa considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” he said in a statement, just hours after Fifa insisted: “Nobody is selling football.”
Hours later, Fifa COO Kevin Lamour issued a statement to The Associated Press, saying Fifa staff were deceived by Infantino’s lack of openness in planning the sale over recent months and that the project must not continue. “It is the project of one person,” Lamour, a long-time colleague of Infantino at both Fifa and European football body Uefa, wrote.
“Not only must this project not go ahead, but the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions.”
Private investors
Infantino has proposed spinning off Fifa’s commercial businesses — including World Cups and Club World Cups for men and women — into a $20bn subsidiary with 20% owned by private investors.
The “anchor investor”, described by Fifa, is a New York-based investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The next Fifa competition is the Women’s Under-20 World Cup starting September 5 in Poland — which Uefa members said they would boycott.
The misstep could prove costly for Infantino, particularly after the interventions by Lamour and Cordeiro.
Re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023, Infantino is allowed one more four-year term under Fifa statutes. The deadline for the next presidential contest is November 18, exactly four months ahead of the vote in Rabat, Morocco, where Fifa has its African headquarters.
Infantino’s job seemed secured despite long-term unease with his style and previous attempts to force through unpopular projects but could become more tenuous with the failed private equity proposal.
AP
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