Fifa abandons World Cup privatisation after Uefa leads revolt
Gianni Infantino has withdrawn a plan to sell World Cup stakes to private investors after Uefa threatened a boycott, averting a venture capital takeover of football's premier commercial rights but leaving the Fifa president's future in doubt.
Fifa has officially withdrawn its proposal to sell off a stake in the commercial rights of its major tournaments to private investors. The decision follows a week of intense internal opposition that culminated in Uefa threatening to boycott future Fifa competitions.
The abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme had aimed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars by selling a significant share of the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup. Venture capital firm Thrive Capital had been leading the proposed investor group. In return, Fifa promised to distribute "over $10bn" among its 211 member associations, with an optional $20m upfront payment for those signing up before a 19 September deadline.
For European football, the collapse of the deal represents a successful defence of the sport's current financial architecture against private equity encroachment. Europe’s member associations unanimously rejected the privatisation at an emergency meeting on Thursday, arguing that ceding control of premier commercial rights to outside investors risked destabilising the sport's revenue streams.
The internal backlash went far beyond Europe. Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation publicly opposed the plan, while senior Fifa officials turned on the leadership. Carlos Cordeiro, a senior advisor to Infantino, resigned on Friday in protest. Fifa’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, also criticised what he described as Infantino’s "serious lack of respect" in trying to force the scheme through without proper consultation.
Conceding defeat, Infantino acknowledged the financial model had failed. "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," he said. He added that his intent is now to "bring all interested parties back together" to grow the game globally.
The immediate market impact is the preservation of the status quo, but the financial promises Fifa made to secure support for the wider strategy remain outstanding. Observers now suggest Infantino may attempt to tap into Fifa’s existing reserves, which stand at around $4bn, to fund the cash distributions originally promised through the private investment route.
However, the political damage is already done. Infantino’s previously secure grip on the presidency has been severely weakened by the revolt and the recent Folarin Balogun affair. Uefa and other confederations are actively searching for candidates to challenge him in next year’s Fifa election, where he had previously been expected to easily secure a fourth term.
