Two senior FIFA officials have publicly criticized President Gianni Infantino's plan to sell a stake in future World Cups [2].
The internal rift highlights a significant struggle over the financial future of the world's most popular sport. By attempting to bring private equity into the tournament's ownership, FIFA risked shifting its governance from a non-profit sporting body toward a commercial corporate model.
FIFA COO Kevin Lamour said staff were deceived over the sell-off plan. Lamour's comments suggest that the organization's internal leadership was misled regarding the specific details, and the projected benefits of the proposal [1].
Another senior official, who served as a presidential adviser and was also part of a White House task force for the World Cup, resigned in protest. The official said, "I cannot continue to serve as a presidential adviser while this plan proceeds" [2].
The proposal sought to generate $20 billion [3]. Critics within the organization argued the plan was financially risky and lacked transparency. The fallout led to a rapid reversal by the FIFA president.
Infantino said the proposal has been withdrawn after the overwhelming feedback received [3]. While some reports indicate the proposal was pulled early Saturday, other accounts show senior officials were still criticizing the active plan on Friday [1, 3].
The controversy centered on the scale of the $20 billion [3] deal and the perceived lack of honesty regarding how the funds would be managed. The resignation of a top adviser marks a rare public break in the executive ranks of the Geneva-based organization [2].
“"Staff were deceived over President Gianni Infantino’s World Cup sell‑off plan."”
The collapse of the $20 billion proposal indicates a failure of Infantino's attempt to pivot FIFA toward a private equity-backed financial model. The public nature of the dissent—including a high-level resignation and accusations of deception from the COO—suggests deep instability within the executive leadership and a strong internal resistance to the commercialization of the World Cup's core assets.
