INFANTINO FACES GROWING OPPOSITION OVER WORLD CUP STAKE PLAN

By: Gyang Dakwo

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is facing growing opposition to his plan to sell a permanent commercial stake linked to the World Cup, with UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, CONCACAF and the resignation of his adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, piling pressure on the proposal.

UEFA fired the opening shot after its Executive Committee and all 55 member associations rejected the proposal, insisting that any decision affecting football’s biggest competition must be subject to wider consultation.

“Football’s competitions are not financial instruments,” UEFA said, warning that any move involving ownership interests in FIFA competitions crossed “a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross.”

Asia Football Confederation (AFC) soon aligned itself with UEFA’s position, saying changes of such importance required greater transparency and broader engagement with football stakeholders before any decision could be taken.

Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) also joined the growing chorus, expressing similar concerns over both the proposal and the process that produced it. The confederation urged FIFA to engage more widely with member associations before proceeding further.

Pressure intensified when Cordeiro stepped down as one of Infantino’s advisers, making him the first senior figure within FIFA’s leadership circle to resign over the controversy.

Cordeiro, a former president of the United States Soccer Federation, described the proposal as “a bad deal for football” and argued that FIFA already possessed sufficient financial strength to support development programmes without selling a stake linked to its competitions.

His resignation marked a significant escalation in a dispute that had already spread across three continental confederations and exposed growing unease among FIFA’s membership.

Meanwhile FIFA has stood firmly behind the proposal, maintaining that any investor would hold only a minority commercial interest and would have no influence over sporting decisions, tournament organisation or football governance

“We want to invest more in football. We want to distribute more money to football,” the FIFA president said while outlining his vision for expanding development funding.

For now, discussions are continuing, but opposition is also gathering momentum. With three confederations now publicly questioning the proposal and a trusted adviser resigning over it, Infantino faces an increasingly difficult task in convincing FIFA’s members that the plan should proceed.

As it stands, this is no longer simply a debate over commercial investment, but a test of whether FIFA’s president can carry enough of world football with him to reshape the future of its biggest competition.