{"id":840803,"date":"2026-08-01T17:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T17:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/840803\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T17:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T17:36:09","slug":"infantinos-fifa-crisis-what-is-reaction-to-world-cup-investment-u-turn-world-cup-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/840803\/","title":{"rendered":"Infantino\u2019s FIFA crisis: What is reaction to World Cup investment U-turn? | World Cup News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Backlash to FIFA\u2019s private investment plan for World Cups and events was huge; now football reacts to the U-turn\u2019s fallout.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Published On 1 Aug 20261 Aug 2026<\/p>\n

FIFA President \u200cGianni Infantino has said that world football\u2019s governing \u2060body had \u2060scrapped plans to sell a stake in the World Cup and other events to private investors after widespread backlash.<\/p>\n

The response to the plan, which was announced on Tuesday by Infantino, was overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

The wording of the outcry from around the globe was damning of the proposal<\/a>, but stopped short of directly criticising Infantino.<\/p>\n

The reaction to Infantino\u2019s decision late on Friday<\/a> to scrap the investment scheme, which would have sold minority stakes in World Cups and other FIFA events, ranges from overt votes of no confidence in the FIFA president to more subtle, but equally notable, condemnation of the week\u2019s events.<\/p>\n

\u201cUEFA welcomes FIFA\u2019s decision to withdraw its plan to sell a stake in \u2060its competitions \u2013 including the World Cup \u2013 into private hands,\u201d European football\u2019s governing body said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA\u2019s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUEFA will begin \u2060work immediately with partners and stakeholders all over the world and right across the game to propose a new way of distributing resources through the existing FIFA Forward programme.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story. The proposal \u200chas gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFC\u2019s president, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of global football must always be shaped through \u2060proper consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our game,\u201d said Sheikh Salman<\/a>, president of the Asian Football Confederation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFC stands ready to support any initiative that strengthens the unity of the football family, contributes to \u200cthe continued growth of the game globally and delivers meaningful benefits to all stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand shoulder to shoulder with our European colleagues and fully support the collective view,\u201d an FA spokesperson wrote on its website.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe oppose FIFA\u2019s plans \u2013 the FIFA World Cup belongs to football and always will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dutch FA statement<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the withdrawal of the proposal, the matter is not settled for the KNVB,\u201d the Dutch statement read.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2060way this process has unfolded has led to a fundamental breach of trust in the leadership of FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The KNVB no longer has confidence in his leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome FIFA\u2019s \u2060decision not to proceed with the proposal. It is in line with our expectations in light of the flawed process and the reactions the proposal \u200chas provoked,\u201d Astrom said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we are still concerned about deficiencies in transparency and governance, and want to emphasize \u200cthe \u200cimportance of continued discussion and dialogue about how football should be governed and developed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a founding member of FIFA and a representative on the FIFA Council, the RBFA remains committed to a strong, independent and sustainable model for international football,\u201d Van Damme said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball has never stood still, nor should it,\u201d Isaac said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout its history, our game has evolved through innovation, investment and new ideas that have strengthened football, created greater opportunities for players, \u2060coaches and referees, and enhanced the experience \u2060of supporters around the world. That spirit of progress must continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome principles, however, should never change. Integrity. Independence. Good governance. Transparency. Meaningful consultation. Due process. \u2060These are not constraints on progress. They are what make lasting progress possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Backlash to FIFA\u2019s private investment plan for World Cups and events was huge; now football reacts to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3846,49,48,3456,527,1259,44,457,82,834,127,772,1690,13009],"class_list":["post-840803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-bahrain","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-switzerland","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}