Overview
- Reports that Gianni Infantino quietly promoted a proposal called FIFA Forward Enterprise to sell about 20% of World Cup commercial rights to private investors triggered a backlash when the plan became public.
- Infantino announced the proposal would not proceed after widespread opposition, a decision that prompted the resignations and public criticism of senior FIFA aides including Carlos Cordeiro and chief operating officer Kevin Lamour.
- UEFA declared on Saturday that it had lost confidence in Infantino and has begun working to revoke written support and pursue mechanisms such as calling an extraordinary FIFA congress to force a no‑confidence vote.
- The FFE plan was reported to value the packaged rights at roughly $20 billion with a potential anchor investor linked to Thrive/Thrive Eternal, raising concerns about secrecy, governance and commercial control of football’s flagship events.
- The outcome remains uncertain because parts of Asia and the Qatar FA have publicly backed Infantino, leaving a split membership where 43 associations can call an extraordinary congress and a simple majority of FIFA’s 211 members would be needed to remove him.