NEW JERSEY: Fifa President Gianni Infantino said on Friday that world soccer's governing body had scrapped plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors after widespread backlash.
Fifa's plan was to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling about a 20% stake in a new unit that would run FIFA events, including the World Cup.
The proposal, first announced on Tuesday, immediately faced a storm of opposition. European soccer's governing body, UEFA, threatened a boycott of events and accused FIFA of putting the sport's "soul" up for sale.
"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," Infantino said in a statement on Friday evening.
"Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed."FIFA had argued that selling the minority stake in its commercial operations would raise billions of dollars to fund global sports development, and accused the media of mischaracterising the proposal.
Infantino had written to member associations to tell them that they would receive $40 million each if they agreed to Fifa's proposal by September 19.
"Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support," Infantino said in Friday's statement.
