FIFA president abandons plan to sell World Cup stake

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has abandoned plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors, telling Sky News on Friday that the initiative had generated opposition too severe to justify continued pursuit of the proposed privatization. "Having listened carefully to all the views, 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," he said.

$20 billion subsidiary shelved

The scrapped proposal had sought to sell more than 20% of a newly created $20 billion FIFA Forward Enterprise subsidiary to private investors, according to agency reports. FIFA announced plans Tuesday to establish the entity to manage World Cup assets and other competitions, with up to a fifth of the venture offered to external backers. "This proposal will not proceed," Infantino stated, confirming the reversal and adding that he intends to reconvene stakeholders with the goal to "continue growing football everywhere, and particularly in those countries that mostly need our support."

Washington ties

Infantino, 56, has cultivated increasingly close ties with the United States administration, presenting President Donald Trump with FIFA's inaugural Peace Prize in December during the World Cup in the country. He has made repeated efforts to strengthen relations with Washington, telling Sky News that FIFA's purpose "has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve," adding that the governing body's mission remained unchanged despite the abandoned sale.