July 31 (Reuters) – A senior adviser to FIFA President Gianni Infantino resigned in protest at plans to sell a stake in the World Cup on Friday, as European football threatened a boycott and regional confederations united in opposition to the controversial proposal.
Carlos Cordeiro resigned with immediate effect, calling the plan “a bad deal for football”.
Cordeiro, who was appointed in 2021 by Infantino to help shape FIFA’s future, said the body was “mortgaging football’s future without any compelling justification”.
“It is a bad deal for FIFA’s Member Associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game,” Cordeiro said in a statement.
A former banker and ex-U.S. Soccer Federation vice president, Cordeiro added that he had no involvement in the proposal and opposed it “unequivocally”.
Despite the mounting opposition, Switzerland-based FIFA said “incorrect media reports” this week had disrupted its planned consultation process but that it would press on with putting the proposal in front of its 211 national football associations.
“We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA (Member Association) has the ability to express its vote based on facts,” it said in a statement issued in the middle of the European night.
FIFA has proposed creating a $20-billion subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run the World Cup and its other events, with a stake of up to 20% to be offered to external investors.
Thrive Eternal, a fund run by Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, was expected to lead the proposed investor group, FIFA said. Joshua is the brother of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who had been critical of FIFA’s plan when it was announced earlier this week, told reporters on Friday that Infantino was “the wrong man to lead the organisation”.
Infantino is up for re-election next year and North American football chief Victor Montagliani is reportedly looking to challenge him for the FIFA presidency.
UEFA LEADS OPPOSITION TO FIFA WORLD CUP PLAN
The European football association, UEFA, has led the widespread opposition to the proposal, accusing FIFA of putting the sport’s “soul” up for sale.
On Thursday, UEFA’s 55 member nations voted unanimously to boycott all FIFA tournaments, less than two weeks after Spain were crowned World Cup champions.
FIFA’s next major event is the women’s Under-20 World Cup in September. Hosts Poland said on Friday they had not received any information about the potential withdrawal of any team from the tournament.
“Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain,” FIFA said in Friday’s statement.
“Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs around the world.
“Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA.”
CONCACAF, the regional federation for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, rejected the proposal during a meeting on Thursday but the 41-member body did not follow UEFA with a boycott threat.
The Asian Football Confederation, which has 47 members, issued a statement on Friday saying it “stands in solidarity” with UEFA and CONCACAF, but also stopped short of threatening a boycott.
The AFC, which has not historically been as frequent or vehement a critic of FIFA as its European counterpart UEFA, questioned the viability of the proposal and raised doubts about FIFA’s decision-making processes in a thinly-veiled attack on Infantino.
Stuart Dykes, the director of European and Institutional Affairs at Football Supporters Europe, said such decisions could not be taken behind closed doors by a small group of people.
“The national associations should be demanding proper governance, proper consultation, proper stakeholder involvement,” Dykes told Reuters.
“Football is not for sale. It’s a social good. Its value is created by the fans and the players… That value is not for FIFA to extract in the interest of private investors.”
FIFA SAYS PROCESS IS A DEMOCRATIC ONE
Infantino said in a letter to all member associations that they would receive $40 million each if they agreed to FIFA’s proposal by September 19.
On Friday, FIFA said that it would not go ahead with the plan without the support of the majority of its member associations.
“These principles underpin the FFE proposal: unprecedented development funding, truly global ownership of the commercial opportunities of our sport, and full self-determination through a democratic process for all MAs,” FIFA said.
UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC combined have 143 associations, well over half of FIFA’s 211 members.
However, not all individual member nations would be certain to follow their federations’ line.
Czech Football Association President David Trunda told Sky Sports that he could see the “positive impact of FIFA’s intentions”, while the Mexican Football Federation said it would study the proposal before deciding its position, despite CONCACAF’s rejection.
As the hue and cry over the proposal continued, Danish brewers Carlsberg, who have a sponsorship deal with UEFA, trolled Infantino with a social media post.
“Time for a hydration break, Gianni? Probably,” Carlsberg wrote, referencing the mandatory pauses introduced at this year’s World Cup which critics had called a vehicle for extra advertising slots.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom, Aadi Nair and Rohith Nair; Additional reporting by Lucy Thomson, Nick Mulvenney, Kuba Stezycki and Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kevin Liffey and Clare Fallon)
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