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Josh Ball

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has scrapped his divisive plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup, hours after a senior adviser quit over the “bad deal for football”.
In a statement released early on Saturday, Infantino acknowledged that his Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) move to raise US$4.2 billion in private funding had “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 had proposed creating a US$20 billion subsidiary to run the World Cup and other events, with a stake of up to 20 per cent to be offered to private investors.
The lead investor would be a New York-based firm created by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Earlier, Carlos Cordeiro, a top adviser to the Fifa boss and a former Goldman Sachs banker who served on the White House World Cup Task Force, resigned, the latest show of opposition to a plan that had been widely condemned throughout the game.

“Let me be clear,” Cordeiro said in a statement. “I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally. 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.
“Football has been central to my life, and after more than 35 years in banking I understand both the value of this asset and the consequences of giving part of it away. That is why this proposal should be rejected.”
Infantino, meanwhile, has seen the goodwill generated by a hugely successful World Cup on and off the pitch vanish in a barrage of accusations about his management style and lack of transparency.
Perhaps with one eye on his re-election, which looked to be a certainty at the start of the week but now has to be in serious doubt, he ended his statement saying he would try and unify the game once more.
“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.


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Fifa

Gianni Infantino forced to scrap World Cup sell-off plan, senior Fifa adviser quits

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been forced to scrap plans to sell off the World Cup. Photo: Getty Images

Carlos Cordeiro (left) looks on as Fifa President Gianni Infantino presents US President Donald Trump with a gift in the Oval Office. Photo: AFP

Fifa says it is not ‘selling football’ as Uefa vows World Cup boycott over Infantino plan

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin (right) and Fifa head Gianni Infantino at the Uefa Congress in Brussels in February. Photo: Reuters

Fifa has appeared to back off from its plan to set up its Forward Enterprise group. Photo: Reuters

Gianni Infantino was Uefa general secretary before becoming Fifa president. Photo: Reuters

AFC president Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa (right) has long been an ally of Gianni Infantino. Photo: AFP

Asian football body joins opposition to Fifa and Infantino’s World Cup private equity plan

Fifa president Gianni Infantino (centre) at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in Manama, Bahrain in 2023. Photo: AFP

The AFC has urged Fifa to review its governance and decision-making framework. Photo: AFP

Sport

Football

Fifa president scraps plans to sell off World Cup hours after former Goldman Sachs banker Carlos Cordeiro calls it ‘bad deal for football’


Fifa president scraps plans to sell off World Cup hours after former Goldman Sachs banker Carlos Cordeiro calls it ‘bad deal for football’.


Jared Kushner

Goldman Sachs

Gianni Infantino forced to scrap World Cup sell-off plan, senior Fifa adviser quits

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Fifa president scraps plans to sell off World Cup hours after former Goldman Sachs banker Carlos Cordeiro calls it ‘bad deal for football’

Fifa president scraps plans to sell off World Cup hours after former Goldman Sachs banker Carlos Cordeiro calls it ‘bad deal for football’