FIFA President Gianni Infantino proposed selling about 20% of a newly created entity managing World Cup commercial rights to private investors. The plan aimed to raise up to US$4.2 billion but was abandoned on July 31 after fierce resistance from stakeholders including UEFA and several national football associations [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9].
The backlash included threats of legal action from UEFA, which sent a preservation letter to FIFA to retain documents and evidence related to the proposal. UEFA spokesperson said, "We can confirm that a document preservation letter was sent. No further comment would be made at this time" [5, 9].
Several football associations withdrew their support for Infantino amid criticism of his governance and consultation style. The Football Association of Wales formally pulled support, with the English Football Association also set to follow suit [5]. UEFA and others accused Infantino of endangering football’s integrity and stated they no longer have confidence in his leadership [2, 3, 5, 7, 10]. Luis Figo called Infantino's actions "deceitful and cravenly self-interested," saying he sought to "force through such major changes just to enrich himself and his friends" [10].
Following the collapse of the plan, Infantino reportedly sought support from the Trump administration, attempting multiple times to reach US President Donald Trump by phone. Reports said he scheduled private talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; however, US officials denied any call was planned or took place. US Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson said there were "no plans" for Rubio to speak with the 56-year-old Swiss-Italian [1, 4, 5, 6, 8].
On August 5, FIFA leadership held a crisis meeting in Rabat, Morocco, attended by Infantino, secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, and the management board. The group reaffirmed full support for Infantino and issued an apology to FIFA’s 211 member associations for mistakes in handling the abandoned commercial rights plan, promising a review [2, 3, 11, 7, 10].
The failed stake sale and resulting fallout have cast doubt on Infantino’s prospects for re-election to a fourth term as FIFA president from 2027 to 2031 [1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 8]. Infantino, aged 56, has a close relationship with Donald Trump, having presented him with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025 [6, 8].
