FIFA apologizes for World Cup privatization plan

RABAT, Morocco

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has received the “full support” of senior directors, but world football’s governing body has apologized for the controversy surrounding a now-shelved plan to open the World Cup to private investment.

Facing a barrage of criticism following the aborted plan, FIFA’s leadership acknowledged “errors,” while nonetheless backing the embattled Infantino following a crisis meeting in Morocco.

Infantino has come under increasing pressure, even from within his organization, over his handling of the proposal, and calls for him to step down have grown since he abandoned it last Saturday.

In a statement on Aug. 5, FIFA’s leadership acknowledged “that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to the media.”

FIFA floated the plan, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, called FIFA Forward Enterprise, which it proposed would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.

It said that if approved, the project could provide each of FIFA’s 211 member associations with a one-time payment of $20 million in early 2027 and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.

Instead of acting as a sweetener, it produced a furious backlash, with European football’s governing body, UEFA, resorting last week to the nuclear option of boycotting the sport’s jewel in the crown, the World Cup.

By Aug. 1, Infantino held his hands up and withdrew the plan.

After Aug. 5’s meeting in Rabat, the FIFA secretary general and members of the FIFA Management Board in attendance said in a statement that they “reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations.”

“The meeting also addressed the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, where mistakes made were acknowledged,” the statement said.

“In a separate letter to the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations, an apology was made for these errors together with a commitment to ensure they do not happen again,” it added.

Infantino had been basking in the warm afterglow of a highly successful World Cup, the largest ever with 48 teams and co-hosted by three countries: Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

His wish to serve a fourth and final term looked likely to be rubber-stamped in Rabat next March, no other candidate had come forward to challenge him.
However, last week, all that faded.

UEFA termed the proposal to privatize the World Cup a “shabby, back-room, opaque deal” hatched by Infantino.

“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA said in a statement.

North and Central American football’s governing body, CONCACAF, went further still and called for “a comprehensive reckoning with this presidency” while slamming Infantino’s “poor governance and leadership.”

On Aug. 5, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose country co-hosted the 2026 World Cup, said he no longer had confidence in Infantino’s ability to lead FIFA.