UEFA has withdrawn its confidence in FIFA president Gianni Infantino after helping stop his plan to sell a stake in FIFA’s World Cup business to private investors.
The European governing body called for those responsible to be identified and held accountable, adding that “no option should be off the table.” Its response appeared to open a campaign against Infantino’s continued presidency after FIFA abandoned the proposal.
Infantino wanted to create a company valued at $20 billion to operate FIFA’s commercial businesses, including the men’s and women’s World Cups and Club World Cups. Private investors would have owned 20% of the subsidiary.
UEFA condemns secret FIFA project
Opposition intensified after the plan was announced. Europe’s 55 national associations agreed to boycott the World Cup and every other FIFA competition, while North America’s CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation also rejected the proposal.
UEFA accused FIFA’s leadership of advancing a secret project on a rushed timetable without proper scrutiny. It plans to consult its member associations and other confederations about how the venture developed and what safeguards are needed to prevent a repeat.
“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA declared.
Norwegian soccer federation president Lise Klaveness, an elected UEFA executive committee member, argued that international football’s system of checks and balances had failed. She accused those behind the venture of putting global cooperation at risk in pursuit of individual interests instead of the game’s interests.
Asian soccer confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa also called for global football’s future to be decided through established governance structures, consultation and collective dialogue.
Carlos Cordeiro resigns as FIFA staff revolt
Resistance also emerged inside FIFA. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser and a former Goldman Sachs banker, resigned from his role representing the organization on the White House Task Force for the World Cup. He urged other senior FIFA employees to speak publicly.
FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour then accused Infantino of keeping staff in the dark while the proposed sale was developed. Lamour, a longtime colleague of Infantino at FIFA and UEFA, described it as one person’s project and called on football’s political leaders to make decisions about the organization’s direction.
FIFA withdrew the plan after Cordeiro’s resignation and the opposition from Europe, North America and Asia.
FIFA had identified the proposed anchor investor as a New York-based investment firm launched by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Previous Infantino proposals also collapsed
The failed equity venture followed other abandoned projects pursued during Infantino’s presidency. In 2018, he promoted a secretive $25 billion offer from Japan’s SoftBank to establish new competitions, a proposal viewed within the sport as a long-term threat to continental club and national-team events.
In 2021, Infantino backed staging the World Cup every two years instead of its traditional cycle. The proposal angered the International Olympic Committee, where he is an elected member, and FIFA eventually dropped it.
Despite those disputes, Infantino was re-elected without opposition in 2019 and 2023. FIFA statutes allow him to seek another term, but UEFA’s response to the latest project has created organized momentum to remove its former longtime employee.
Nov. 18 is the deadline for candidates to enter the next FIFA presidential election, with the vote scheduled in Rabat, Morocco, where FIFA has its African headquarters. A candidate would need 106 votes to secure a majority in a contested election.
Europe’s 55 FIFA members, Asia’s 46 and CONCACAF’s 35 would provide a substantial base for a challenger, although confederations do not necessarily vote as unified blocs.
The proposed spinoff also raised the prospect of Infantino moving into a commissioner-style position beyond 2031, potentially earning more than his current annual salary and bonus package of over $6 million.