UEFA target Infantino after FIFA shelve World Cup private investment plan

FIFA president Gianni Infantino failed to calm the stormy waters surrounding his position despite on Saturday scrapping a plan to allow private investment in the World Cup.

European football’s governing body UEFA had led the opposition to the plan — saying they would boycott all FIFA competitions — and while welcoming the withdrawal of the proposal said Infantino had lost their and other football family members “confidence” with his “shabby, back room, opaque deal”.

Their response came hours after Infantino, whose previous smooth path to unopposed re-election for a final term next year is being openly questioned, had issued a statement announcing the humiliating climb down after a furious backlash since the plan was first revealed on Tuesday.

“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.

UEFA did not mince its words in holding Infantino to account for the debacle less than a fortnight after he basked in the afterglow of a highly successful World Cup — the first with 48 teams and hosted in three countries.

“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” read the statement.

UEFA said the 56-year-old Swiss had broken promises he made when he successfully first sought election in 2016 — namely to be “transparent” and that FIFA’s money was “your (the member associations) money” and “not the money of the FIFA President.”

“On both these promises, he has failed to deliver,” said UEFA.

“The shabby, back room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through were anything but transparent.

“And with reserves standing at over $5bn, he has also failed to use associations’ money for the benefit of the game.”

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which represents 47 member nations, had used less forthright language when it too welcomed the plan’s withdrawal.

Any initiative that may impact global football should be “presented and discussed with the Confederations, the FIFA Council, Member Associations (MAs) and other stakeholders in a timely, transparent and meaningful manner,” the Kuala Lumpur-based body said in a statement.

‘Shared interest’

Those two powerful bodies had been joined by the North American and Caribbean federation (CONCACAF) — which includes the three World Cup co-hosts, the US, Canada and Mexico — in condemning the move.

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.

The African Football Confederation (CAF) had urged their members to review the plan but the planned meeting next week over the proposal is now superfluous.

Pressure had 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”.

In the 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.

The beleaguered Infantino said he would focus 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.