FIFA President Gianni Infantino Cancels Controversial Plan to Sell Shares of Football Competitions After Widespread Opposition

Kathmandu. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has cancelled the controversial plan to sell shares of major football competitions after widespread opposition. According to Infantino, this project has 'created division' and it has been decided not to proceed with it as it is no longer in the interest of its original objective. He said, 'As a result, this proposal will not proceed.' Earlier, Infantino had offered to give $40 million (approximately £30 million) per person to all 211 FIFA member nations as support for the proposal to bring in private investment in competitions including the men's and women's World Cups. The 55 member nations of the European football governing body (UEFA) had voted on Thursday to boycott the World Cup if the plan proceeds. FIFA Chief Operating Officer (COO) Kevin Lamour said that FIFA's administration itself was 'deceived' about this project. Similarly, Carlos Cordeiro, senior advisor to Infantino on global strategy and good governance, resigned from his post, calling the proposal a 'bad deal that mortgages the future of football'. The governing body of football in North, Central America and the Caribbean, 'CONCACAF', has also rejected the proposal. According to sources, most member nations in this region have lost faith in Infantino. Similarly, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has also expressed solidarity with the decisions of UEFA and CONCACAF. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also commented that Infantino is the 'wrong person' to lead FIFA. The 56-year-old Infantino is preparing to be a candidate for the presidency for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in March. However, this latest development has put immense pressure on him. He has now said that he will bring all parties together again for the 'common interest' of football. Initially, FIFA had insisted on the proposal, saying 'no one is selling football'. However, for this proposal to be passed, the support of at least 106 out of 211 FIFA member nations was required. When AFC, UEFA, and CONCACAF opposed it, it became certain that this plan would fail. With 55 from UEFA, 35 from CONCACAF, and 46 from Asia, a total of 136 votes were seen to be against it. Football bodies from Africa and Oceania had said they would discuss this in August, while the South American Football Confederation had sought further clarification on the structure and potential impact of the proposal.