UEFA declares no confidence in Infantino after FIFA scraps World Cup private equity plan

FIFA abandons World Cup private equity plan

FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced late Friday that the organization would not proceed with a plan to sell stakes in the commercial rights to the World Cup and other top tournaments, following fierce opposition from regional confederations. The plan would have raised up to US$4.2-billion by selling approximately a 20% stake in a newly formed unit called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to private investors fronted by Joshua Kushner, the brother of U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Infantino said the proposal 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." The reversal came less than 24 hours after FIFA had publicly vowed to push ahead with the plans despite growing controversy.

UEFA declares loss of confidence in Infantino

UEFA released a statement the following morning declaring it had lost confidence in Infantino's leadership. The European body, whose 55 member associations had unanimously rejected the proposal, called the plan a "shabby, back room, opaque deal" and accused Infantino of failing to deliver on transparency pledges he made when elected FIFA president in 2016. UEFA welcomed FIFA's decision to abandon the plan as a "victory for the whole game" but said the "task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun," noting that FIFA's reserves stand at over $5-billion. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, whose members include men's and women's World Cup champion Spain, led the opposition, and the body warned that "no option should be off the table" in holding leadership accountable.

Confederal opposition and internal revolt

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), CONCACAF, and UEFA all rejected the proposal, with at least 143 of FIFA's 211 member associations opposed — more than the 106 votes needed to pass the measure. Senior FIFA adviser Carlos Cordeiro, a former U.S. Soccer president who had served on the White House task force for the World Cup, resigned in protest, calling FFE "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." FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said staff had been "deceived" by the lack of openness around the plan, while former FIFA president Sepp Blatter also criticized the proposal publicly.

Accountability demands from confederations and members

CONCACAF released a statement calling for accountability and warning that "a proposal of this magnitude does not reach that stage by accident. It is a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first." AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa said any future initiative affecting global football must be "presented and discussed with the Confederations, the FIFA Council, Member Associations and other stakeholders in a timely, transparent and meaningful manner." Football Australia chairman Anter Isaac emphasized that "integrity, independence, good governance, transparency, meaningful consultation, due process" are non-negotiable principles. UEFA announced plans to work with global partners on a new resource-distribution framework through the existing FIFA Forward program.

Implications for Infantino's 2027 reelection bid

The episode threatens Infantino's plan to run unopposed for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco, scheduled for March 18, 2027. Removing Infantino would require 43 member nations to trigger a vote of no confidence, with rival candidates required to declare by November 18. Concacaf president and FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani has emerged as a potential challenger, and analyses suggest Infantino may no longer be able to count on the smooth path he enjoyed in 2019 and 2023. Despite delivering a North America-hosted World Cup that brought record revenues of $15 billion, the failed sell-off has cost Infantino allies and emboldened critics within world soccer's political structure.