Football has won against the millions and external agents, and FIFA has lost. At least for now, its idea of privatizing the World Cup is over. Gianni Infantino, president of football’s governing body, announced early Saturday morning from FIFA’s headquarters in Switzerland that his proposal will not move forward.
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Cornered after rejections from three continental confederations—Europe, Asia, and North, Central America and the Caribbean—and only with the implicit but lukewarm support of South America, Infantino issued a statement accepting the failure of his proposal to create a $20 billion commercial subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which aimed to start managing the World Cup and other FIFA events.
“After carefully listening to all opinions, it has become clear that the project has caused divisions that, regardless of the level of support, no longer benefit the initial objective,” Infantino published, raising the white flag of surrender. “As we said from the beginning, the intention was to carry it out only if it had the backing of the majority of FIFA member associations and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the confederations, and other stakeholders,” added the leader, defeated by UEFA, Concacaf (which includes North America, Central America, and the Caribbean), and the Asian Confederation.
This is not Infantino’s first stumble in his intention to modify central aspects of the World Cups: a few years ago he had insisted, in vain, on holding the tournament every two years. Europe, also then, had won the battle.
The FIFA Forward Enterprise project included the creation of a subsidiary company that would hold the World Cup rights after selling a stake worth $4 billion to private investors. These investors would be selected by Thrive Capital, a company owned by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. The FIFA president proposed to the 221 national federations to accept the plan and in return promised to multiply the funding.
The vote, already definitively dropped as of this Saturday, was scheduled for September 19. With the refusals from Europe (55 votes), Concacaf (41), and Asia (47), FIFA understood it did not have the necessary endorsements.
The relationship between Infantino and Trump became close in recent years with the awarding of 78 matches of the 2026 World Cup to the United States, against 13 received by Mexico and another 13 by Canada. Football’s governing body invented the FIFA Peace Award in November 2025, granted to Trump. Already during the World Cup, the US president asked the FIFA head to pardon Folarin Balogun, a forward of the local team who had been sent off against Bosnia.
Unexpectedly, in what is considered the least disguised interference from political offices in the history of the World Cups, Infantino lifted Balogun’s suspension, who played the next match against Belgium, although it did not prevent the Americans’ elimination.
“Looking ahead, my intention is to bring together all stakeholders again in the coming days and weeks, guided by the shared interest in our sport and with the goal of continuing to promote the growth of football everywhere, especially in those countries that most need our support,” Infantino added in a statement issued after European midnight.
On Thursday, UEFA and its national associations had unanimously agreed to abstain from competitions organized by the entity presided over by Infantino. “None of UEFA’s 55 national teams will participate in FIFA competitions while these proposals remain in place, unless they are completely abandoned and guarantees are presented that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,” published the European football body.
The threat, far from being limited only to the men’s 2030 World Cup, aimed to start with two upcoming youth women’s World Cups, the under-20, to be held from September 5 to 27 in Poland, and the under-17, to be played from October 17 to November 7 in Morocco.
The last joint appearance of Infantino and Trump occurred at Spain’s award ceremony as world champion, after the final against Argentina in New Jersey. They did not imagine that both were facing a defeat.
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