Killing the controversial sell-off proposal was supposed to end the issue. Instead, it has only deepened, with calls for Gianni Infantino to step down from his post.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed over the weekend that the federation is abandoning its plan to sell private stakes in the World Cup, saying the project had created divisions that no longer served football’s purpose of uniting and improving the game. He now says he wants to bring all sides back together in the coming weeks to keep growing the sport, particularly in the countries that need support most.
The retreat, however, hasn’t bought Infantino any peace. If anything, Saturday’s statements from UEFA and CONCACAF read less like acceptance and more like an opening argument for something bigger.
The Confederations Aren’t Done
UEFA welcomed FIFA’s reversal, then used the same statement to go straight after Infantino’s leadership, condemning what it called secret schemes pushed through on fast-track timescales by faceless individuals, and demanding that those responsible be identified and held accountable. The confederation didn’t mince words about where things now stand, declaring that FIFA’s current leadership has lost not just UEFA’s confidence, but that of much of the football family besides.
CONCACAF’s Saturday statement was just as pointed, arguing that a proposal of this scale doesn’t advance as far as it did by accident, but is instead a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting the sport first. It went further still, describing the episode as part of a pattern of missteps and calling for what it termed a comprehensive reckoning with the presidency itself.
The Asian Football Confederation was more conciliatory, welcoming the decision and stressing that football’s future has to be shaped through proper consultation and respect for existing governance structures. However, its stance is still a pointed reminder of the process critics say Infantino skipped entirely.
What Started It All
Much of the original backlash centered on the plan to sell roughly 20 percent of a new subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to private investors—chief among them Thrive Eternal, the investment vehicle led by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner and brother-in-law to US President Donald Trump. The concern was simple enough: investors chasing returns would eventually push to influence decisions well beyond their intended scope.
That threat is shelved for now, but the political fallout clearly isn’t. Attention turns next to football’s actual calendar—the Under-20 Women’s World Cup opening September 5 in Poland, and the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil—even as the fight over who runs FIFA looks far from finished.
