After scrapping the $4.2bn World Cup stake sale, Infantino himself is under pressure: Uefa says it has lost confidence in him and called for a boycott, and Politika reports European officials are looking for a successor.
Fifa is the global governing body of football and owns the commercial rights to the men's World Cup, by far the sport's most valuable single property, along with its other tournaments. Those rights, chiefly broadcasting and sponsorship, are normally sold cycle by cycle to media companies and sponsors, with Fifa keeping ownership and redistributing revenue to its member associations. Selling equity stakes in the rights themselves through an investment vehicle would be a departure from that model, handing outside investors a standing claim on future income. Uefa, the European confederation, represents the clubs, leagues and national associations that supply most of the sport's elite players and much of its commercial value, and has repeatedly clashed with Fifa over calendar and revenue control. The dispute announced here sets Fifa's leadership against those European bodies over whether the World Cup's earnings should be opened to private capital.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino dropped his proposals to bring private investors into the World Cup business after a widespread backlash, and UEFA declared that he has lost its confidence and called for a boycott, The Guardian reported on Saturday, 1 August. A day later Politika reported that officials in Europe are searching for a candidate to replace him at the head of FIFA.
FIFA announced on Saturday that it is abandoning President Gianni Infantino's plan to sell a stake in its World Cup commercial rights to private investors. The proposal had drawn fierce opposition across football, including from European clubs and associations.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino defended plans to move the commercial operations of the World Cup and other competitions into a semi-private subsidiary and to sell roughly 20 percent to outside investors for about $4.2 billion, with an opt-in deadline of 19 September. Uefa called an emergency meeting of its 55 members and accused Fifa of "enriching themselves and their friends", while the English FA, Concacaf and clubs including Bayern Munich joined the criticism and talk of a boycott emerged.
Fifa announced plans to sell stakes of up to 20 percent in the commercial rights to the World Cup and other tournaments through a private investment vehicle that would raise about $20bn, with President Gianni Infantino calling the plan the democratisation of football worldwide. Uefa and European football bodies accused Fifa of selling the soul of football and said they could take legal action.