FIFA Chief Gianni Infantino on the Ropes as He Ditches Controversial $20 Billion Private Investment Plan
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has abandoned a controversial $20 billion private investment plan following widespread opposition from UEFA and other regional governing bodies. The move leaves his leadership in doubt ahead of the upcoming re-election.
Why it matters
The collapse of this deal represents a significant shift in FIFA's governance and commercial strategy, potentially destabilizing the organization's top leadership.
Gianni Infantino, the embattled president of soccer's governing body FIFA, has abandoned his controversial plan to create a $20 billion company, FIFA Forward Enterprise, that would control the commercial rights to its events, principally the World Cup.
In a statement released late Friday, Infantino said it had "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."
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The survival of Infantino, who is up for re-election for a fourth term as president at the FIFA Congress in March, is now in doubt.
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