FIFA scraps private investment plan after backlash

PARIS: FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Saturday he had scrapped a plan to allow private investment in the World Cup following fierce backlash from football officials worldwide.

“Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve,” Infantino said in a statement.

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

FIFA, world football’s governing body, had floated the plan on Tuesday, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a commercial subsidiary it proposed to run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.

It said that, if approved, the project could provide each of FIFA’s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027 and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.

But the idea of allowing private investors even a small stake in the FFE was quickly condemned.

European football’s governing body UEFA said none of its national teams would participate in any FIFA competition “for so long as these proposals remain alive”.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and North American and Caribbean federation (CONCACAF) also condemned the move.

“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product,” UEFA said in a statement. “No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”

Pressure mounted on Infantino on Friday with the resignation of senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro, who called the idea “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”.

South American confederation CONMEBOL, whose president Alejandro Dominguez is regarded as a close ally of Infantino, demanded further information on the “scope, structure, governance and potential effects” of the project.

In the late night statement announcing the plan was dead, Infantino said the project was conceived as a means of strengthening member associations, and that it would only have gone ahead if a majority supported it.

“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,” he said.

In expressing solidarity with UEFA and CONCACAF, the Kuala Lumpur-based AFC — which represents 47 member nations — had raised alarms at the idea of a World Cup boycott.

“The fact that the situation has reached the point where the real possibility of a FIFA World Cup boycott has entered public discourse should concern everyone who cares about the future of our game,” the AFC said.

 ‘The wrong man’

FIFA had tried to fend off the critics, saying in a statement early Friday morning that it would continue consultations with member associations and insisting that “nobody is selling football”.

But the pressure mounted, and not just within the football community.

A day after the European Union praised UEFA for “defending the integrity of the game,” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday that Infantino was “the wrong man” to lead FIFA.

The beleaguered Infantino said he would focus now on restoring harmony while continuing to grow the game.

“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,” he said.