FIFA Leadership Abandons World Cup Commercial Plan

International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino has completely abandoned the organization's controversial plan to sell commercial activities, including World Cup rights, to private investors. According to ESPN, this step was taken following widespread global protests, a boycott threat issued by UEFA, and a serious internal rebellion within the organization, which also put Infantino's future at risk. This is reported by Goal.com reports .

Gianni Infantino acknowledged late Friday that the initiative had been halted following fierce resistance from the public and football associations. In fact, it had been only three days since the announcement of the plan to create a $20 billion subsidiary named FIFA Forward Enterprise. This new structure was supposed to consolidate commercial and event management practices related to the men's and women's World Cups, as well as the Club World Cup, under a single company.

Financial scale and questionable aspects of the plan

Although control over the structure was planned to remain in FIFA's hands, nearly 20 percent of it was proposed to be offered to private investors, aiming to raise $4.2 billion in return. According to the plan, an investment firm founded by Joshua Kushner (brother of Jared Kushner) from New York, USA, was being viewed as the primary financial backer of this project.

However, this initiative immediately sparked fierce objections in the football world. FIFA had initially strongly insisted that the project would be implemented with the consultation and majority consent of its 211 member associations. Yet, a storm of criticism and open boycott threats by influential organizations like UEFA radically changed the situation.

Internal rebellion and final decision

Open protests that began among high-ranking officials within the organization and certain federations even put Infantino's own position in jeopardy. The deep divisions and disagreements that arose made the continuation of the project impossible. Gianni Infantino stated that he had listened carefully to the views of all parties and reached a final conclusion.

“After listening carefully to all perspectives, it has become clear that this project, regardless of its level of support, has caused divisions contrary to the goals initially set before us,” the FIFA leader emphasized. According to him, the federation's main goal has always been and remains to unite and develop football.