Concacaf rejects Infantino plan to sell World Cup stakes to investors

Concacaf’s 41 member associations rejected Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors, a move that deepened resistance to FIFA from North America after European federations had already threatened a boycott.

At a Thursday meeting, Concacaf said members discussed FIFA’s “Forward Enterprise” proposal, which would have created a new commercial vehicle to sell interests in the World Cup to private investors. The confederation said the plan raised deep concerns over the lack of due process, the artificially short deadline imposed for a response, and the absence of any review or approval by the relevant FIFA governance bodies.

Concacaf also challenged the premise of the project itself, saying it questioned whether private equity money was needed to fund new and existing FIFA Forward programs given what it described as the most profitable FIFA World Cup in history. Instead of selling World Cup interests, Concacaf said its members wanted existing FIFA reserves considered as a way to increase FIFA Forward funding for football development across the region.

The confederation said it had instructed its FIFA Council members to engage FIFA on whether those reserves could be used for development spending and told Infantino to make sure any future matter moves through proper governance channels, including staff and the FIFA Council, in line with FIFA statutes. The decision gave formal backing to a push for more control over how World Cup money is raised and spent, rather than letting a new investment structure set the terms.

The backlash has not been limited to North America. UEFA, which has 55 member associations, had already moved toward a boycott threat over the same proposal, with European federations discussing the possibility of boycotting FIFA competitions, including the World Cup. FIFA had set a Sept. 19 deadline for national associations to respond, and the plan was described as involving a FIFA subsidiary and the sale of minority stakes to investors, with some coverage valuing the vehicle at $20 billion.

The dispute has exposed a deeper struggle over who controls soccer’s biggest revenue stream. Concacaf’s rejection matters because it shows that resistance to Infantino’s approach is no longer confined to Europe. It now includes North and Central America, where leaders are insisting that FIFA reserves, governance rules and existing development programs should come before private equity capital.