FIFA scraps plan to sell World Cup stake to private investors following backlash, Infantino says
FILE - FIFA president Gianni Infantino looks on after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final match between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, 2026 in East Rutherford, United States. (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via G
FIFA is now scrapping plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors following global criticism.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a state on Friday that the world’s governing soccer body has "listened" and that the project clearly "created divisions."
What they're saying:
"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, according to a Reuters report.
Big picture view:
This comes after several football confederations, including the Asian Football Confederation, European confederation UEFA, and Concacaf, the confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean, rejected FIFA’s proposal to spin off its commercial operations in a $20 billion subsidiary owned by private investors.
Infantino had presented the private equity offer as a chance to "turbocharge" funding development of soccer across the world, where a majority of the 211 FIFA members rely on its funding.
Infantino had proposed creating a $20 billion company to run the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family, but drew backlash that grew every day since Tuesday's announcement.
The Source: nformation for this article was taken from reporting by Reuters, The Associated Press and The New York Post. This story was reported from San Jose.