FIFA, world football's governing body, have withdrawn their plans to sell their stakes to private investors following heavy criticism from continental football federations and member associations.
According to Reuters, FIFA aimed to generate up to $4.2 billion through the sale of roughly a 20% stake in a new commercial unit responsible for managing FIFA events, including the World Cup.
The proposal, unveiled on Tuesday, sparked immediate backlash. UEFA, European football's governing body, threatened to boycott FIFA events and accused the organisation of selling the sport's "soul."
FIFA president Infantino releases statement
"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," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said via a statement on Friday.
"Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed," he added.
FIFA maintained that selling a minority stake in its commercial arm would generate billions of dollars to support the development of football worldwide, while accusing sections of the media of misrepresenting the proposal.
In the letter, Infantino said each federation would be paid $40 million provided they backed FIFA's proposal before the 19 September deadline.
"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 added.
On Thursday, UEFA's 55 member associations unanimously voted to boycott all FIFA competitions unless the proposal was scrapped, insisting that the World Cup "cannot be treated as an investment product."
Later that day, CONCACAF, the 41-member confederation representing North America, Central America and the Caribbean, also voted against the proposal during its meeting.
On Friday, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which represents 47 member associations, announced that it "stands in solidarity" with UEFA and CONCACAF. Together, the three confederations account for 143 of FIFA's 211 member associations, giving them a clear majority.
Since the proposal required the backing of more than half of FIFA's members to pass, its chances of approval effectively disappeared.
There was also disagreement between the FIFA members internally. Carlos Cordeiro, Gianni Infantino's senior advisor, resigned from his post on Friday, calling it a "bad idea for football".
Kevin Lamour, FIFA Chief Operating Officer, stating that Infantino had "deceived" the board staff. He even termed the proposal as a "project of one person".
FIFA had proposed creating a $20-billion subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run the World Cup and its other events.
Thrive Eternal, a fund run by Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, had been slated to lead the proposed investor group, according to FIFA. Joshua is the brother of Jared Kushner, United States President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
Trump and Infantino have developed a close relationship, with the US co-hosting the recent 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada. Trump said he is yet to talk to Infantino regarding the external investment plan.
