Top News

Football Today

1 August 2026

Football Today

1 August 2026

FIFA have shelved plans to sell a minority stake in their commercial business after strong resistance from the global football community and the exit of key investors.

It marks a significant setback for FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s leadership.

The world governing body had been examining the sale of a 20 per cent stake in a newly formed commercial entity.

The proposed transaction would have valued the business at about $20 billion and generated roughly $4.2bn.

The plan centred on hiving off FIFA’s highly profitable television rights, sponsorship deals, licensing and ticketing operations into a separate company.

But the project has now been dropped after Thrive Capital, the investment firm led by Joshua Kushner, is reported to have stepped back from the talks.

JP Morgan had been acting as adviser on the transaction. The bank has also ended its involvement as backing for the proposal disappeared.

Infantino later confirmed the decision, acknowledging that the plan had caused divisions within world football that outweighed any possible benefits.

FIFA will continue to manage and market its commercial rights through the current structure.

The collapse comes after fierce opposition from several of football’s most powerful confederations.

UEFA reportedly warned that its member associations would boycott FIFA competitions if private investors were allowed to own part of the sport’s commercial assets.

Resistance quickly extended beyond Europe, with CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation also rejecting the proposal.

Without support from the world’s biggest football markets, the project became impossible to rescue.

The failed move has also laid bare serious internal divisions within FIFA itself.

Chief operating officer Kevin Lamour publicly criticised the process, saying senior executives had been kept in the dark and describing the proposal as one person’s project rather than FIFA’s.

Senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro also stepped down amid the controversy.

With FIFA’s commercial gamble now abandoned and pressure building before next year’s presidential election, Infantino’s authority appears more fragile than ever.

What was meant to modernise FIFA’s finances has instead turned into one of the biggest political blows of his presidency, raising serious doubts over whether he should remain in charge.