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Photo: The Athletic — Football
FIFA's World Cup sell-off plan is wobbling
Gianni Infantino built his FIFA presidency on the promise of more money, more tournaments, more everything — so the reported collapse of his flagship plan to sell private investment stakes in the World Cup is, at minimum, a significant wobble. According to The Athletic, FIFA is now considering reversing course on the privatisation scheme after pushback from member associations and other stakeholders. Whether that means a full retreat or a quiet rethink is still unclear. What is clear: something inside FIFA is not going to plan.
The plan that's now in trouble
The broad idea — selling private equity stakes in FIFA's major tournaments, including the World Cup — was framed as a way to unlock new revenue streams and fund the global development of the game. On paper, it had the logic of modern sports finance behind it. In practice, it ran into the oldest obstacle in football governance: the people who actually run the member associations didn't want it.
The Athletic reports that backlash from those associations and other stakeholders has been substantial enough to force a rethink at the top of the organisation. The specifics of who is pushing back hardest, and on exactly what terms, haven't been detailed — but the fact that a reversal is even being considered tells you the opposition has weight behind it.
What it means for the World Cup
For football fans, the stakes here are real even if the boardroom language makes them feel abstract. Private investment in a tournament like the World Cup doesn't just change how it's funded — it changes who has a say in how it's run, where it's held, and what it looks like commercially. The concern from member associations is likely exactly that: once outside investors have a stake, the tournament stops being purely FIFA's to govern and starts being something they have to answer for.
A full reversal, if it comes, would leave the World Cup's governance structure broadly as it is — which is not without its own problems, but at least keeps the tournament inside the existing accountability framework, however imperfect that framework might be.
Infantino's position
The Athletic frames this alongside questions about Infantino's political future at the organisation — and that framing matters. FIFA presidents don't quietly abandon flagship commercial strategies unless the internal arithmetic has shifted. Infantino has been adept at building coalitions inside FIFA, but a plan this significant running into this kind of resistance suggests those coalitions are under strain.
Gianni Infantino has survived plenty of turbulence since taking office. He has also, historically, been very good at making turbulence look like someone else's problem.
What we don't know yet
One source — The Athletic — is carrying this story, and the extent of the reported U-turn remains vague. A full reversal is very different from a tactical pause or a restructured proposal. Whether other outlets pick this up, and whether FIFA responds formally, will determine how much weight to put on it. Right now, this is a strong signal from a credible outlet, not a confirmed policy shift.
The 2026 World Cup is already under way across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The timing of this reported internal crisis — mid-tournament — is its own kind of statement.
Sources1 source
Flagside's editors read every piece we publish. We work from the football press, write our own copy rather than reprinting anyone's, and check each article for accuracy and sourcing. Every outlet that fed into this piece is named under Sources.
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