FIFA’s Infantino Scraps World Cup Investment Plan. But Is It Too Little, Too Late?
· Time
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Friday that football's international governing body would scrap plans to sell private investors a stake in a new commercial venture tied to the World Cup. The pivot came after widespread backlash and vows from all 55 members of UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) to boycott future FIFA competitions if the plans went through.
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“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,” Infantino said in a statement. “Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
The turnaround followed escalating blowback from leading soccer organizations and top voices in the sport, culminating in Friday’s resignation of Carlos Cordeiro, a top advisor for FIFA who said that he could not “stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup.”
Read More: FIFA Draws Fury Over Plan to Sell Stakes in World Cup
"Let me be clear: I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally,” his statement said. “It is 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."
But the criticism has not abated with Infantino’s reversal. UEFA and CONCACAF—the governing body for North and Central American and Caribbean soccer—continued to attack the underlying premise and said they would seek ways to prevent future attempts to advance it.
A UEFA statement on Saturday said that it and “other members of the football family” had lost confidence in FIFA leadership while implying that “shabby, back room, opaque” deals had been taking place. It also said that Infantino had “failed to deliver” on his 2016 election promise of transparency.
The organization said it would “reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again,” adding: “We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game.”
The continued backlash could have broader repercussions for Infantino, who is up for reelection in 2027. Before the debacle, he was expected to run unopposed. However, Infantino's $20 billion private equity plan has complicated the 56-year-old Swiss administrator’s chances at running for another four-year term—particularly after criticism spread beyond FIFA itself, prompting accusations of football mismanagement and corruption.
“The fervent torrent of rejection emerging from numerous federations is extremely significant,” Jules Boykoff, professor of political science at Pacific University, tells TIME. “It signals that, despite FIFA's clientelistic patronage network—whereby FIFA brings in billions and redistributes millions to member associations around the world—Infantino overplayed his hand.”
The English Football Association said on social media Saturday that it “fully” supports the UEFA position and echoed its calls for a “full and robust review of FIFA’s leadership and governance.”
CONCACAF, which comprises 41 member associations, said that the fact that the plan materialized at all was a “symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first.”
“A comprehensive reckoning with this presidency is imperative,” it said.
The FIFA President is not without some friends. Qatar’s Football Association has thrown its weight behind him, saying it “fully supports [his] efforts to continue growing and strengthening the game globally.”
But Infantino’s position has been significantly weakened at a delicate time for the organization, which ran into multiple scandals during the 2026 World Cup, including ticket pricing strategy in the United States, sponsored hydration breaks, and its decision to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension ahead of the USMNT’s Round of 16 match, which followed a phone call between Infantino and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Who are possible challengers to FIFA President Gianni Infantino?
Infantino was originally expected to easily retain his position at the helm of FIFA in March 2027.
Now, with public calls for review into his leadership, potential rivals may feel emboldened.
“FIFA is full of sharks, and there's no question that many of them can smell blood. Infantino's election in 2027, which seemed like a sure bet only a few days ago, is now an open question,” Boykoff says.
Challengers for his role must submit their candidacies by Nov. 18, and there has already been some speculation as to who might make a bid.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), was defeated by Infantino in 2016, the current administrator’s first term, but he could return a decade later as a frontrunner. He called Infantino’s investment proposal and his failure to consult AFC on it “totally unacceptable,” putting the two publicly at odds.
Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al-Khelaifi has also been floated by European football officials as a potential candidate to run against Infantino. But when approached by Politico earlier this week, his representatives said he has “no ambition, no intention, no interest in the FIFA role, and he will continue to discreetly support all the institutions of world and European football.”
Once the world of soccer is no longer in the immediate wake of the equity venture controversy, more contenders could emerge.
However, UCLA law professor Steven Bank tells TIME that he would not count Infantino out of the running yet—especially with over seven months to garner support.
“I think he’ll be weakened, but it's the classic case of if you come for the king, you better kill him, you can't leave him just wounded,” Bank says. “And none of the prospective candidates for president are free from problems themselves.”
And countries are going to have trouble parting from Infantino, he explains: “They're going to say, ‘Look, I don't like Infantino, but I know what I'm going to get from him.’”
Regional administrators who are worried about FIFA corruption should be concerned with more than just Infantino, Bank adds, saying that he is merely part of a larger, ongoing issue.
“Maybe it was just Infantino who was pushing this [proposal], but the existing governance structure allowed him to,” Bank says. “If that's the case, then there are problems with the governance structure.”
“This is not a single-person issue,” Bank explains, warning that a replacement for Infantino could just as easily come in and try advancing a similar plan in the years ahead.