FIFA president Gianni Infantino has abandoned his controversial plan to sell a stake in future World Cup profits to private equity investors after fierce opposition from football’s governing bodies.
FIFA had announced on Tuesday that it was seeking to launch FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would bring together the sale of FIFA’s commercial rights – including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing – with the operational delivery of its tournaments.
Infantino had then given football associations until September 19 to back his proposals to sell off part of FIFA to private investors with a £30.1m incentive to accept.
But the controversial proposals received fierce criticism from UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), with Prime Minister Andy Burnham adding his condemnation by calling for “FIFA to undertake an urgent review of its governance”.
Infantino had then given football associations until September 19 to back his proposals
A statement from Infantino in the early hours of Saturday read: “The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed.
“And more so, as we said from the outset, to do this only if a majority of the FIFA Member Associations were in support and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the Confederations and wider stakeholders.
“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. Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve.
“As a result, this proposal will not proceed. 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.”
Sell off plans are condemned
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Donald Trump claims Gianni Infantino never spoke to him about his proposal to sell a stake of the World Cup to private investors.
Pressure increased on Infantino after Carlos Cordeiro, one of his senior advisors, resigned in protest at the privatisation plan, saying it was a “bad deal for football” and “for the long-term future of the game”.
In an exclusive statement to Sky News, Cordeiro added: “As a senior advisor to the FIFA president, a former banker, and a lifelong football fan, 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.”
A second FIFA official – chief operating officer Kevin Lamour – had also said the governing body’s staff were “deceived” by Infantino’s lack of openness over his plans, and told the Associated Press news agency, staff “deserve better than contempt and intimidation”.
Lamour called the World Cup plans “the project of one person” and said it was time for football leaders to take action.
Cordeiro’s resignation and Lamour’s comments came after FIFA had released a statement in the early hours of Friday morning insisting “nobody is selling football” amid criticism of its proposals.
What next for Infantino?
Sky Sports News chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol:
Gianni Infantino has pulled the plug on his World Cup sell-off plan in a desperate attempt to keep his job as FIFA president.
With pressure increasing on him from inside and outside FIFA, Infantino was forced to act to save his own skin.
A late-night statement was released by FIFA at 12:30am (BST), but in a clear sign that Infantino is losing support from within the organisation he is supposed to lead, it was marked clearly as being attributable to “the FIFA president”.
The statement was short by FIFA standards and anyone looking for the word “sorry” or any kind of apology was disappointed.
For Infantino, sorry still seems to be the hardest word.
The big question now is whether Infantino can survive. In normal circumstances you would ask how damaging this has been for Infantino’s reputation, but many would argue that he does not have much of a reputation left to damage.
It is difficult to unseat a FIFA president and knowing Infantino, you would expect him to try to cling onto power for as long as possible.
There is a FIFA presidential election in March and up until the events of this week, it was almost guaranteed that Infantino would be the only candidate.
He already had the support of more than 200 of FIFA’s 211 member associations – including the English FA – but many of those federations will now be reconsidering their options.
Many leaders in the world of football will now be looking for a rival to back before candidates have to declare their intention to stand for the presidency before the November 18 deadline.
In the meantime, Infantino has a lot of explaining to do – to the people he works with at FIFA, FIFA Council members, Confederation presidents, federation presidents and chief executives, the bankers and investors he worked with secretly on this doomed project and President Trump.
Trump famously doesn’t like losers. Infantino promised him something he could not deliver.
How long will it be before even Trump decides that Infantino is yesterday’s man?
