CORNERFLICK
Gianni Infantino has scrapped plans to sell a stake linked to World Cup revenues after a wave of criticism from across football.
Proposal withdrawn
In comments obtained exclusively by Sky News, Infantino said the project had created divisions and no longer fitted the original aims behind it. He said the intention had always been to unite football and improve conditions, but added that the proposal would not go ahead.
Infantino also said he wanted to bring stakeholders together again in the coming days and weeks to focus on shared interests in the game, especially in countries most in need of support.
Wider backlash
Fifa had confirmed on Tuesday that Infantino wanted to set up a subsidiary valued at $20 billion and raise $4.2 billion by selling more than 20 per cent of the future profits from major Fifa tournaments.
The plan drew opposition from several confederations, national federations and senior figures within Fifa. Uefa warned its members could boycott Fifa competitions if the idea went ahead, while the AFC and Concacaf also opposed it.
Conmebol later asked Fifa for more information and said commercial decisions should never come before football’s core values. Inside Fifa, Carlos Cordeiro resigned as senior adviser, calling the idea a bad deal, while chief operating officer Kevin Lamour described it as a one-man project.