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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has abandoned plans to open the World Cup and other major football competitions to private investment following strong opposition from football stakeholders around the world.
Infantino announced the decision on Saturday, saying the proposal would no longer move forward after consultations with member associations, confederations and other stakeholders.
“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 had introduced the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) earlier in the week, describing it as a commercial subsidiary that could manage events including the World Cup and Club World Cup. The governing body said the initiative could have raised up to $4.2 billion based on a projected valuation of $20 billion.
Under the proposal, FIFA’s 211 member associations would have received a one-time payment of $20 million in early 2027, while their funding allocation for the 2027–2030 cycle could have increased from $8 million to $20 million.
However, the plan faced immediate criticism from several football authorities, with concerns over private ownership and the future control of the sport’s biggest competitions.
European football’s governing body, UEFA, strongly opposed the proposal, saying the World Cup should not be treated as an investment asset.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product,” UEFA said. “No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) also criticised the move, while the Mexican Football Federation welcomed FIFA’s decision to withdraw the plan.
Pressure increased further after Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Infantino, resigned and described the proposal as “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 football body CONMEBOL also requested more details about the proposal, including its structure, governance and possible impact.
Infantino said the project was designed to strengthen football development globally but acknowledged that opposition had created divisions.
“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 FIFA president said he would now focus on rebuilding unity within the football community and continuing efforts to expand support for the sport worldwide.
