Fifa abandons plan to sell stakes in World Cup and other major competitions

Fifa has abandoned a proposal to sell ownership stakes in its flagship tournaments, including the World Cup, after the idea met with broad opposition. The decision ends a controversial investment plan advanced by president Gianni Infantino.

The world governing body for football had been considering a scheme to monetize parts of its major competitions by offering third parties ownership interests. That proposal drew widespread criticism and concern, prompting Fifa to reassess the approach. The concept was broadly portrayed as an attempt to attract outside investment into Fifa’s events and commercial rights. Ultimately the organisation chose to withdraw the plan in response to the opposition it provoked.

The initiative, which had been presented as a way to unlock new funding streams for Fifa’s competitions, would have involved selling stakes in those events. Details of how any transactions would have been structured were not advanced in the announcement that the plan had been shelved. The organisation’s leadership framed the move as a response to the reaction the proposal generated rather than a step toward implementation.

Opposition to the scheme was described as widespread, and that resistance is cited as the principal reason for the reversal. The measure had been associated with Gianni Infantino, who put forward the idea. Critics had raised concerns about the implications of private investors holding stakes in world football’s marquee tournaments, and that backdrop helped shape the ultimate outcome.

With the plan now discontinued, Fifa will leave the current ownership and commercial arrangements for its major competitions unchanged. The decision effectively maintains the status quo for how revenue and rights around those tournaments are managed. No alternative investment programme replacing the shelved proposal was announced alongside the abandonment.

The withdrawal of the proposal marks the end of this particular effort to restructure how Fifa’s competitions might be financed. The organisation has stepped back from the controversial investment route in the face of widespread opposition to president Gianni Infantino’s idea.