Less than two weeks passed during that time. FIFA president Gianni Infantino reversed one of the most contentious proposals in the sport’s recent history less than two weeks after the 2026 World Cup concluded on a high note with 48 teams, three host countries, and billions of viewers. The proposal to allow private investors to participate in FIFA’s competitions, including a share in the World Cup itself, was made discreetly before being abruptly dropped.
Watching this play out gives the impression that Infantino truly did not anticipate the backlash. Or maybe he didn’t realize it. In any case, the proposal’s quick collapse reveals how little faith he had in the game’s governing bodies.
According to FIFA’s plan, the men’s and women’s World Cups would be administered by a commercial subsidiary named FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE. Private investors would purchase about 20% of this company, with investment bank JP Morgan providing the funding. $20 billion is the headline valuation. Up to $4.2 billion could be raised. In exchange, development funding for each of FIFA’s 211 member associations was promised to increase from $8 million to $20 million per cycle, eventually reaching $24 million by the late 2030s.
On paper, that kind of money is really important for smaller organizations with fewer resources. By a deadline of September, Infantino even offered member countries that supported the proposal a $40 million sweetener. The goal of the pitch was to increase votes before responding to inquiries. It turns out that was a grave error in judgment.
Almost instantly, UEFA called an emergency meeting and decided to boycott all FIFA tournaments if the plan was carried out. The governing body of European football used acerbic and intimate language. When Infantino first ran for president in 2016, UEFA accused him of violating his pledges to be transparent and to treat FIFA’s funds as belonging to member associations rather than the presidential office. “On both these promises, he has failed to deliver,” UEFA said in a statement that didn’t try to downplay the situation.
The Asian Football Confederation came after CONCACAF. The math alone prevented the plan from passing, with UEFA’s 55 votes, CONCACAF’s 35, and Asia’s 46 effectively opposing it. A vote in favor of Infantino would have required 106 of the 211 member associations. In real time, that majority was vanishing.
Infantino’s own senior adviser on global strategy and governance, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned, adding to the pressure, calling the plan “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future.” FIFA’s chief operating officer then claimed that the organization’s own management had been “deceived” regarding the project. From within the building, that is an amazing admission.
The identity of the investor who was supposed to lead the group was what made the proposal especially delicate. The investment firm Thrive Eternal, associated with Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, was identified as the most likely lead investor. The optics were hard to ignore because Trump and Infantino had developed a visible relationship since the former’s return to the White House in 2025. Although it’s still unclear exactly how those relationships influenced the initial proposal, they did influence public opinion.
Eventually, Infantino released a statement claiming that the plan had “created divisions” that were “no longer in the interest” of its initial goal. subtly expressed. meticulously built. the kind of wording that attempts to present a withdrawal as a morally sound choice. It’s debatable if anyone in football’s leadership circles would interpret it that way.
Now, the FIFA private investment incident serves as a warning about governance. It’s not about whether private capital has a place in sports, which is a legitimate and ongoing debate; rather, it’s about how decisions of this magnitude are made, or rather, how they shouldn’t be. Rebuilding trust does not involve blindsiding confederations, luring in politically connected investors, or providing financial incentives under duress.
In March, Infantino will be up for reelection. Compared to the day the World Cup final concluded, the road ahead appears to be much less straightforward.
