Sports

FIFA Scraps $20B World Cup Sell-Off Plan

Did FIFA make the right call scrapping the Forward Enterprise project or did Infantino simply get caught and back down?

Published AUG 1

#Sports

FIFA Scraps $20B World Cup Sell-Off Plan

Story

Above: Gianni Infantino at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19. Image credit: Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images

The Facts

FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Friday scrapped a plan to sell a roughly 20% stake in a new commercial subsidiary, the FIFA Forward Enterprise, which had been valued at $20 billion and was intended to raise up to $4.2 billion from private investors.
Al Jazeera
Guardian
FOX Sports
The proposed deal featured New York-based venture capital firm Thrive Capital, run by Joshua Kushner — the brother of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law — as the anchor investor and JPMorgan advising on the transaction.
CNN
New York Post
In a statement, Infantino said the proposal "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" and confirmed it "will not proceed."
NPR
GB News
FIFA on X
This comes after UEFA voted unanimously among its 55 member associations to boycott future FIFA tournaments if the plan proceeded, while CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation also formally rejected the proposal.
NPR
LiveNOW from FOX
Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's senior adviser and a former Goldman Sachs banker, resigned in opposition to the plan, saying, "I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup." FIFA's Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Lamour, separately stated that staff had been "deceived."
CNN
Breitbart
The Associated Press
The collapse of the plan comes ahead of a FIFA presidential election scheduled for March in Morocco. UEFA is reportedly seeking candidates to challenge Infantino, and a Nov. 18 deadline is set for declarations.
Al Jazeera
New York Post

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

FIFA made the right call pulling the Forward Enterprise project — when a majority of member associations couldn't get behind it, pressing forward would've undermined the very unity soccer depends on. Growing the game globally, especially in countries that need it most, requires broad buy-in, not division. Scrapping this proposal is proof that FIFA's decision-making process actually works.

FIFA on X

Narrative B

Infantino didn't pull this deal out of principle — he got caught trying to hand World Cup commercial rights to private investors, including a Kushner-linked fund, and only backed down after UEFA threatened a full boycott and his own staff revolted. Calling this retreat responsible governance is spin. The real story is a FIFA president who tried to privatize soccer's crown jewel and got stopped.

Mario Nawfal on X