FIFA scraps controversial $20 billion World Cup investment plan

(CNN) — FIFA’s proposed plan to sell private stakes in upcoming World Cup tournaments that sparked backlash from fans and soccer associations around the world has been scrapped, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement Friday.

“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. “Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve.

“As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”

FIFA and Infantino had announced plans Tuesday to set up a separate subsidiary – involving private equity investment – that would control the commercial and operational rights to one of the globe’s biggest sporting events.

The proposal had since come under intense scrutiny and criticism from many around the world, with UEFA saying the “soul and governance” of the game are under threat. FIFA, though, said that the money generated will be reinvested back into the sport.

Infantino said it is now his goal to reunite the world of football following this debacle.

“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,” the 56-year-old concluded.

Opposition to Infantino

Infantino had found himself increasingly isolated as pressure and opposition built up against world soccer’s governing body’s plan to inject private money into its competitions.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA threatened Thursday to boycott future men’s and women’s World Cups in reaction to the proposal. North and Central America and Caribbean governing body CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) later came out with statements rejecting FIFA’s proposal, but stopping short of a boycott. A spokesperson for the Oceania Football Confederation said the FIFA proposal would be addressed by the entity’s executive committee in August.

More pressure built up earlier Friday as Infantino’s senior advisor, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned from his position in protest at the proposal, saying: “I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup. Let me be clear: I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally. … It is 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.”

Kevin Lamour, FIFA’s chief operating officer, also spoke out against Infantino.

“It is the project of one person,” Lamour said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday.

He added: “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.”

Lamour also included this: “And if that means I lose my job, then so be it. I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight.”

Friday’s developments came after FIFA had issued a response Thursday night to the backlash by not backing down, seeking to “reaffirm” its plan on moving forward with the consultation process.

Defending its FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the sport’s global governing body said it “acknowledges and respects feedback and concern aired in public,” and placed blame for the furor on “erroneous” reporting in the media.

Earlier on Thursday, the unanimous vote in support of a boycott by UEFA’s 55 member associations delivered an authoritative statement, pitting the sport’s richest and most important national associations against Infantino.

In a scathing Saturday morning statement, UEFA welcomed FIFA’s retreat from the deal while launching a direct attack on Gianni Infantino’s leadership.

“We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account.” UEFA said in a statement. “The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.”

The AFC and Concacaf also “welcomed” FIFA’s decision to scrap the proposed plan.

“The future of global football must always be shaped through proper consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our game,” AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement Friday.

“The AFC stands ready to support any initiative that strengthens the unity of the football family, contributes to the continued growth of the game globally and delivers meaningful benefits to all stakeholders.”

Concacaf criticized the governance that allowed the proposal to reach an advanced stage without proper oversight.

“A proposal of this magnitude does not reach that stage by accident. It is a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first,” Concacaf said in its Saturday statement. “This recent unilateral and egregious act of poor governance and leadership follows a pattern of missteps and similar behaviour. A comprehensive reckoning with this presidency is imperative.

Criticism from all angles

Aside from the lack of transparency around the process, much of the criticism of FIFA’s FFE proposal was centered around the involvement of private investors purchasing roughly 20% of the FFE subsidiary, in particular the main proposed investor group, Thrive Eternal, headed up by Joshua Kushner – brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

There was a fear that investors, seeking a return on their investments, would push to influence matters beyond their remit to maximize profits.

With FIFA’s proposed plan now thrown to the wayside, all attention turns to the next major FIFA international event, the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, set to kick off on September 5 in Poland and the upcoming 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.