Nations split over Gianni Infantino as FIFA scraps World Cup commercial sale plan
Gianni Infantino’s bid for re-election as FIFA president was damaged after FIFA abandoned a proposal to privatise 20% of the World Cup’s commercial rights, the fallout reported on 2026-08-07. The leaked plan prompted resignations and widespread criticism from federations and former officials, and national associations across continents have publicly declared whether they will back his campaign.
Infantino had proposed selling 20% of the FIFA World Cup commercial rights; those plans were leaked and met with widespread condemnation, leading FIFA to scrap the proposal. Two senior FIFA officials resigned in opposition to the scheme, one of them identified as Infantino’s senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro. FIFA’s director of global football development Arsene Wenger described the abandonment of the plans as "absolutely necessary and beyond question". Infantino subsequently issued an apology for the failed privatisation move.
UEFA was the first continental body to voice strong opposition to the privatisation proposal and has been the most outspoken against Infantino’s approach. Several UEFA member associations withdrew letters of recognition that they had provided for Infantino’s campaign; Finland was the first nation to do so, followed by Serbia, Sweden and others. The article states many UEFA members have publicly registered their stance on the president’s re-election.
CONCACAF also rejected the proposed privatisation and its leadership expressed strong opposition to the plans. The confederation’s president Victor Montagliani has been tipped to challenge Infantino for the FIFA presidency. The piece reports that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called on Infantino to step down.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) rejected FIFA’s privatisation proposal, yet the article notes that, at present, only Jordan has publicly opposed Infantino’s re-election bid among AFC members. Conversely, the report lists a string of Asian nations that have declared support for Infantino, specifying Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE among them.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) publicly backed Infantino, saying their 54 member associations "are committed to continue working together with FIFA". Sierra Leone FA president Isha Johansen told the story that CAF’s backing is not unanimous, and the article adds that Egypt, Morocco and other African nations have registered support for the FIFA president.
In South America, Argentina is described as the first nation to back Infantino despite CONMEBOL’s public expression of concern about FIFA’s approach; Paraguay followed by writing a letter of support. The report further notes that Mexico went against CONCACAF’s statements by declaring its support for Infantino.
UEFA announced that all of its 55 member associations will boycott all FIFA competitions if the privatisation plans are not abandoned, framing a conditional response from Europe amid the wider set of national and continental positions on Infantino’s re-election bid.