FIFA president Infantino’s senior advisor resigns following proposal to sell World Cup stake
Carlos Cordeiro, a senior FIFA advisor, has resigned in protest of a proposal to sell a $20 billion stake in the organization's commercial operations to private equity investors. Cordeiro criticized the plan as a bad deal that mortgages the future of football.
Why it matters
The potential privatization of FIFA's commercial assets represents a major shift in the governance and financial structure of global sports.
Senior FIFA adviser Carlos Cordeiro, who represented the soccer body on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, resigned on Friday (July 31, 2026) in protest at its private equity plan.
“I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker, said in a statement resigning as adviser to FIFA President Gianni Infantino that urged other senior FIFA staff to speak out.
Cordeiro often joined Infantino on working visits to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in recent years.
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