FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Friday that world soccer’s governing body had scrapped plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors after widespread backlash.
FIFA’s plan was to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling about a 20% stake in a new unit that would run FIFA events, including the World Cup.
The proposal, first announced on Tuesday, immediately faced a storm of opposition. European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, threatened a boycott of events and accused FIFA of putting the sport’s “soul” up for sale.
“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,” Infantino said in a statement on Friday evening.
“Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
FIFA had argued that selling the minority stake in its commercial operations would raise billions of dollars to fund global sports development, and accused the media of mischaracterising the proposal.
Infantino had written to member associations to tell them that they would receive $40 million each if they agreed to FIFA’s proposal by September 19.
“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,” Infantino said in Friday’s statement.
RESIGNATION
Opposition to the plan snowballed over the week.
On Thursday, UEFA’s 55 member nations voted unanimously to boycott all FIFA tournaments until the proposal was withdrawn, saying that the World Cup “cannot be treated as an investment product.”
CONCACAF, the 41-member federation for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, rejected the proposal during a meeting on Thursday.
On Friday, the Asian Football Confederation, which has 47 members, issued a statement saying it “stands in solidarity” with UEFA and CONCACAF.
UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC combined have 143 national associations, well over half of FIFA’s 211 members. A majority of the members would have needed to vote in support of the plan for it to proceed.
Disagreement was also internal. On Friday, Infantino’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned with immediate effect, calling the plan “a bad deal for football,” while FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour said staff had been “deceived” by Infantino, describing the proposal as a “project of one person”.
Infantino, 56, is up for reelection next year. North American football chief Victor Montagliani is reportedly looking to challenge him.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told reporters that Infantino was “the wrong man to lead the organisation.”
