FIFA abandons plan to sell stake in commercial operations to private investors

GENEVA, August 1. /TASS/. The project to sell a stake in FIFA’s commercial operations to private investors has been abandoned, President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

The New York Post reported earlier that FIFA had abandoned the plan due to opposition from football officials around the world and a major rift among senior FIFA executives.

"The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed. And more so, as we said from the outset, to do this only if a majority of the FIFA Member Associations were in support and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the Confederations and wider stakeholders," Infantino stated.

"Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place. Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed. Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support," the FIFA president added.

Earlier, the proposal was rejected by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL). UEFA also announced plans to boycott FIFA tournaments.

The plan envisaged the creation of a commercial subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise, which would control major FIFA men’s and women’s competitions. Infantino argued that the move would increase revenues for FIFA member associations and support the development of football worldwide. FIFA estimated that the mechanism could generate $4.2 billion. However, the proposal drew strong criticism from football officials, federations and other organizations.