FIFA World Cup sale falls through: UEFA, Concacaf, AFC and Sepp Blatter all blasted Gianni Infantino's plan
FIFA has officially scrapped its controversial plan to sell minority stakes in the World Cup to private investors following intense backlash from global football confederations. UEFA led the opposition, arguing that the sport's future should not be dictated by financial returns to investors.
Why it matters
The collapse of this deal underscores the tension between the commercialization of global sports and the traditional values held by governing bodies.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino had to be aware there would be opposition to the organization's plan to sell off minority stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors. He still might not have been expecting what happened, though.
Three days after word broke of FIFA's plan, all six of the continental confederations had weighed in, as have a number of notable observers. Three confederations were hard against the idea. The other three didn't exactly voice support either.
The outrage was strong enough that FIFA announced Friday it was no longer proceeding with the plan , saying " it has 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."
Let's go through what some of what was said.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in