Failed FFE proposal puts Infantino’s position in jeopardy
By Cael Cross, August 25, 2026
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is facing pressure from numerous football associations to resign following his failed plan to sell commercial stakes to private investors.
Infantino announced the cancellation of his plan in an official statement July 31, three days after the initial proposal. The proposal was for FIFA to create a subsidiary company called FIFA Forward Enterprise, packaging all commercial operations and major competitions, before selling roughly 20% of its stakes to private investors, as first reported by The Times of London.
The new company was estimated to be valued at $20 billion, with just over $4 billion coming in immediately through investors. The 211 members of FIFA would also hold individual shares in the company.
Infantino created the proposal following the success of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He addressed the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations July 18, the day before the World Cup final, describing his long-standing position to improve the commercial potential of FIFA.
“Football is the world’s most popular sport and an extraordinary engine of human and social development,” Infantino said. “Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value, and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game.”
The plan faced immediate backlash from multiple continental confederations, namely the Union of European Football Associations, Asian Football Confederation and Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football. The confederations cited that the proposal gives private investors unnecessary influence over the future of football, as well as holding Infantino accountable for trying to advance the proposal without full transparency to the federations.
UEFA strongly condemned the proposal in an official statement released July 30.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product,” UEFA said. “It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. It has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”
CONCACAF and AFC also released statements, criticizing FIFA’s lack of transparency and short deadline for the proposal.
The sentiment of protecting the World Cup from investors has been echoed by millions of fans across social media, including construction engineering and management student Ismael Rivera.
“Once you leave the people out of football and you make it a market, it breaks the magic of the game,” Rivera said.
The continental confederations are split when it comes to the support of Infantino. UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF still believe Infantino must go, with UEFA threatening to boycott all future FIFA competitions until their conditions are met. The Confederation of African Football and South American Football Confederation havecome out in support of Infantino, however, with CAF accepting FIFA’s admission to its mistakes in the handling of the FFE project.
Reporters have theorized the reasoning behind CAF’s support for Infantino stems down to one word: money.
According to New Lines Magazine, a combination of Infantino’s financial support and close relations with CAF President Patrice Motsepe influenced the confederation’s decision to support the current president.
Despite being the second-largest confederation, CAF has long struggled to financially support its national teams, highlighted by the many financial standoffs over its history, notably from the Nigerian and Cameroonian football federations. While money is still an issue, most recently stemming from the Senegalese team during the 2026 World Cup, Infantino has financially supported the confederation since he took office through the FIFA Forward Programme.
Launched in 2016, the goal was to improve global football development through strong financial support, helping smaller nations develop their national teams.
Combined with Infantino’s offer of a $20 million one-off payment to each federation during his proposal, the idea of financially unstable federations backing Infantino isn’t far-fetched, according to computer science student Abraham Lopez.
“In a way, I kind of don’t blame them,” Lopez said. “They probably need that money to compete with the bigger countries. If they want to compete with Spain or Argentina, getting that money would help them in a way, at the expense of supporting Infantino.”
FIFA held an emergency meeting in Rabat, Morocco, where the board addressed the FFE proposal, how the “mistakes made were acknowledged,” regarding the handling of the process both before and after the proposal was made public, according to an official FIFA statement. However, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström and members of the management board maintained their full support for Infantino as president.
Tensions are still high surrounding Infantino’s position. Kevin Lamour left his role as FIFA chief operating officer Aug. 17 following his claims FIFA’s administration was “deceived” by Infantino, becoming the second high-ranking official to depart FIFA after senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned shortly after the initial proposal.
Infantino’s term ends March 2027 and he has already announced he will be running for a fourth term to be president through 2031. While there has been no official rival candidate announced throughout the waves of backlash, the filing deadline for candidates is Nov. 18, ahead of the scheduled 2027 vote in Rabat, Morocco.
Feature image courtesy of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
