The Football Association (FA) is preparing to withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino’s bid for another term as FIFA president following the collapse of his controversial World Cup privatisation proposal.
Infantino is facing mounting pressure after confidence in his leadership took a significant hit over plans to sell a stake in the FIFA World Cup to private investors. The proposal sparked widespread criticism across world football before ultimately being abandoned.
Wales became the first national association to formally withdraw its backing for the Swiss-Italian administrator, and England is now expected to do the same. According to reports first revealed by Sky News, the FA is preparing to send FIFA an official letter confirming it is removing its support.
The move would further increase the pressure on Infantino, whose decade in charge of world football is now under growing scrutiny.
On Friday evening, Infantino confirmed that the widely criticised privatisation project had been shelved after fierce opposition from several football confederations. The plan had only emerged publicly earlier in the week.
CONCACAF, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, and the Asian Football Confederation both criticised FIFA for failing to consult stakeholders before unveiling the proposal. UEFA went even further by threatening to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the 2027 Women’s World Cup and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, before Infantino eventually abandoned the idea.
Despite the reversal, UEFA said it had completely lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership, describing the proposal as a “shabby, backroom deal.” European football’s governing body has also informed FIFA that it is actively considering legal action over the attempted sell-off.
In a formal notice, UEFA instructed FIFA and Infantino to preserve all documents and electronic records connected to the proposal, signalling the possibility of future legal proceedings.
Political criticism has also intensified. Prime Minister Andy Burnham described Infantino as the “wrong man” to lead FIFA, while the FA called for a comprehensive review of his leadership following the failed initiative.
The controversy has also caused divisions within FIFA itself. Senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest, while FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour reportedly accused Infantino of misleading members of the organisation.
The abandoned proposal centred on creating a new entity known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), with plans to sell a 20 percent stake to private investors. Joshua Kushner’s investment firm, Thrive Eternal, was reportedly lined up to lead the investment group. Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump.
Trump has since stated that he had no discussions with Infantino regarding the World Cup investment proposal before it was withdrawn.
Although calls for Infantino to step down are growing louder, he is still expected to seek re-election when FIFA holds its next presidential election in March 2027.
UEFA has suggested that “no option should be off the table,” including the possibility of a vote of no confidence against the FIFA president.
Such a process could be triggered if at least 43 national associations demanded an Extraordinary FIFA Congress. However, many observers believe such a move remains unlikely unless there is clear evidence that a majority of FIFA’s 211 member associations would support removing Infantino.
Meanwhile, several football associations across Africa and Asia, including Morocco, Egypt and Qatar, have publicly reaffirmed their support for Infantino despite the ongoing controversy.
