FIFA denies 'selling football' as AFC joins opposition and senior advisor quits
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- FIFA released a statement insisting "nobody is selling football" and said it would press ahead with its consultation on selling stakes in a new World Cup commercial venture, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), stopping short of withdrawing the proposal.
- Carlos Cordeiro, a senior advisor to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and a former banker, resigned in protest, stating he "cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup" and calling the plan "a bad deal for football."
- UEFA's 55 member associations declared they will not participate in any FIFA tournament until the FFE proposal is abandoned in its entirety with binding assurances, calling their opposition "unanimous and unequivocal."
- The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), representing 47 Asian nations, joined UEFA and CONCACAF in opposition and called for "an urgent review of [FIFA's] governance," a significant shift from its historically supportive stance toward Infantino.
- Confederations representing 143 of FIFA's 211 member associations — UEFA (55), CONCACAF (41), and AFC (47) — have now publicly opposed the FFE plan.
- An investor group led by Thrive Eternal, founded by Joshua Kushner — brother of U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner — is positioned to secure a minority stake in the proposed FFE venture.
- European and world leagues also oppose the plans, fearing commercial imperatives will push FIFA toward bigger and more frequent tournaments that erode domestic schedules.
Why it matters: With 143 of 211 member associations opposing and UEFA threatening to boycott all FIFA tournaments, the promised returns to national associations from FFE depend on European participation, making the proposal financially hollow. The AFC's pivot from ally to critic — calling for an urgent governance review — signals Infantino's political base inside FIFA is collapsing alongside his institutional support.
