At the summit of world football, a plan to sell the game's most prized tournaments to private investors has collapsed under the weight of its own secrecy, leaving Fifa president Gianni Infantino politically wounded and facing a reckoning that withdrawal alone cannot resolve. The confederations that govern the sport across continents did not simply object to the scheme — they questioned whether the man who proposed it still deserves to lead. It is a moment that asks, as such moments always do, whether institutions built to serve a common good can recover their purpose once trust has been broken
Infantino faces 'thunderous barrage' as football bodies demand full leadership review
Accountability cannot be optional
Mark
Why did Infantino think this would work? He had to know the confederations would reject it.
Mimi
The proposal was designed to bypass the normal governance channels. It was presented as a fait accompli—a done deal that member associations would have to accept. The calculation seemed to be that once the structure was in place, resistance would crumble.
Mark
But Uefa voted to boycott World Cups if it went through. That's not a small threat.
Mimi
Exactly. That's when the math broke. Uefa controls the richest confederation in world football. A World Cup without European teams isn't a World Cup. Once that threat landed, the whole thing collapsed within 48 hours.
Mark
So why is Infantino still in so much trouble if he killed the plan?
Mimi
Because he tried to do it in the first place. The confederations see this as proof he doesn't respect them, doesn't believe in transparency, and is willing to treat football like a commodity to be carved up for profit. He promised transparency in 2016. This was the opposite.
Mark
Is there any way he survives the March re-election?
Mimi
Theoretically, yes. He controls the Fifa machinery. But he's lost the moral authority. The confederations are united against him in a way they rarely are. That's the real danger.
The Pulse
- A confidential JP Morgan-backed proposal to sell minority stakes in a Fifa subsidiary running the World Cup — promising 24 million euros per association but bypassing every governance framework — was exposed and then hastily withdrawn, but the retreat only deepened the crisis.
- Uefa unleashed one of the most ferocious condemnations ever directed at a sitting Fifa president, calling the scheme 'shabby' and conducted in 'back rooms,' and declaring that Infantino had forfeited the confidence of European football entirely.
- Concacaf framed the episode not as a single misstep but as evidence of a leadership that has 'stopped putting football first,' invoking the fiduciary duty owed to the game and insisting that accountability cannot be treated as optional.
- Infantino's own inner circle fractured — his chief operating officer said Fifa had been 'deceived,' and his senior governance adviser resigned, calling the deal a mortgage on football's future.
- With re-election scheduled for March, Infantino retains the public backing of Qatar's football association but faces a governing landscape in which the confederations' public fury may yet harden into coordinated opposition at the ballot.
At the summit of world football, a plan to sell the game's most prized tournaments to private investors has collapsed under the weight of its own secrecy, leaving Fifa president Gianni Infantino politically wounded and facing a reckoning that withdrawal alone cannot resolve. The confederations that govern the sport across continents did not simply object to the scheme — they questioned whether the man who proposed it still deserves to lead. It is a moment that asks, as such moments always do, whether institutions built to serve a common good can recover their purpose once trust has been broken from within.
Gianni Infantino withdrew a plan to sell stakes in Fifa's competitions to private investors on Saturday, but the retreat arrived too late to contain the damage. The proposal, first reported earlier in the week, would have created a commercial subsidiary to manage the World Cup and other flagship tournaments, with external investors — led by the venture capital firm Thrive Eternal, founded by Joshua Kushner — purchasing minority stakes. A JP Morgan document projected returns of roughly 24 million euros per member association over the 2035-39 World Cup cycle. The women's game was not mentioned.
Uefa responded with unusual ferocity, accusing Infantino of betraying the transparency pledges he made when he first campaigned for the presidency in 2016. The plan was 'shabby,' conducted in 'back rooms,' and a direct contradiction of his promise that Fifa's money belonged to the member associations. Uefa declared it had lost confidence in the current leadership and called for a full governance review. Concacaf followed, describing the episode as 'a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first' and reminding the football world that Fifa is held in trust for the game, not wielded as a private enterprise. The Asian Football Confederation and England's Football Association aligned with these positions, while Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness warned that the entire architecture of international football cooperation had been placed at risk in pursuit of individual interests.
The fractures reached inside Infantino's own administration. Fifa's chief operating officer said the organisation had been 'deceived' about the project. His senior adviser on global strategy and governance resigned, calling the proposal a bad deal that would mortgage football's future. The only public endorsement came from Qatar's football association, a detail that carried its own resonance given Infantino's staunch defence of the 2022 World Cup host.
With a fourth-term re-election vote approaching in March, Infantino faces a governing landscape transformed by the episode. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham became the first major national leader to call for his resignation. Uefa's statement stands as among the most forceful ever directed at a Fifa president. Whether the confederations' public fury translates into coordinated action when the membership votes remains the defining question now hanging over the sport.
Gianni Infantino withdrew a plan to sell stakes in Fifa's competitions to private investors on Saturday, but the decision to kill the proposal came too late to save his reputation. Within hours, the world's major football confederations lined up to dismantle him publicly—not for backing down, but for ever thinking the scheme was acceptable in the first place.
The investment plan, first reported on Tuesday, would have created a commercial subsidiary to run Fifa's flagship tournaments, including the World Cup. External investors would have purchased minority stakes in this new entity. According to a 25-page document prepared by JP Morgan, the arrangement promised to deliver roughly 24 million euros per member association during the 2035-39 World Cup cycle. The venture capital firm Thrive Eternal, founded by Joshua Kushner—brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law to Donald Trump—was positioned to lead the investor group. The proposal made no mention of the women's game.
Uefa, European football's governing body, was the first major confederation to respond. In a statement of unusual ferocity, Uefa accused Infantino of betraying the very promises he made when campaigning for the presidency in 2016. Back then, he had pledged transparency and said Fifa's money belonged to the member associations, not to him. The current leadership, Uefa declared, had "lost" the confederation's confidence and that of "many other members of the football family." The language grew sharper: the plan was "shabby," conducted in "back rooms," and anything but transparent. Uefa demanded accountability for those responsible and called for a full review of Fifa's leadership.
Concacaf, which oversees football across North and Central America and the Caribbean, followed with its own rebuke. The confederation stopped short of naming Infantino but was unmistakable in its meaning. The proposal, it said, was a "symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first." The World Cup's future had been "advanced outside every established governance framework, without transparency, consultation or due process." Concacaf emphasized that Fifa is not a private enterprise but a body held in trust for the game, and those appointed to serve it carry a fiduciary duty—a duty of service, not power. "Accountability cannot be optional," the statement read.
The Asian Football Confederation expressed solidarity with Uefa and Concacaf, though in more measured terms. The Football Association of England backed Uefa's position and called for a full governance review. Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation, warned that the entire framework of international football cooperation had been unnecessarily put at risk "in pursuit of individual interests rather than the best interests of the game."
Infantino's own administration had turned against him. On Friday, Fifa's chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said the organization had been "deceived" about the project. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned, calling the proposal "a bad deal for football" that would "mortgage football's future."
The only public support came from Qatar's football association, which praised Infantino's "wisdom" in prioritizing unity among member associations while applauding the decision to scrap the plans. This endorsement carried its own weight: Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup, a tournament Infantino had vigorously defended against criticism of the country's human rights record and treatment of migrant workers.
Infantino now faces re-election for a fourth term as Fifa president at the Congress in March. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the first leader of a major country to call for his resignation, said Fifa had made "the right decision" to withdraw the plan. But the damage is severe. Uefa's statement stands as one of the most forceful condemnations ever directed at a Fifa president. The question now is whether the confederations will translate their public fury into action when the membership votes.
Notable Quotes
The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family— Uefa statement
A symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first— Concacaf statement on the proposal
Want the full story?
Read the original at BBC News ↗
Sports