Arabic version: إنفانتينو يلغي مقترح فيفا للاستثمار الخاص

According to BBC News, Fifa president Gianni Infantino has scrapped a plan to sell stakes in the governing body’s major competitions after widespread opposition. Infantino said the project had created divisions that were no longer in the interest of its original objective, adding: “As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”

The proposal would have created a commercial subsidiary, Fifa Forward Enterprise, to run major events including the men’s and women’s World Cups. External investors would have been invited to make minority, non-controlling investments. Infantino had offered all 211 member associations $40m (£30m) if they backed the plan, with a deadline of 19 September to access an initial $20m (£15m).

Uefa’s 55 member associations voted on Thursday to boycott World Cups if the plans went ahead. Concacaf said its members had rejected the proposal, while the Asian Football Confederation said it stood in solidarity with Uefa and Concacaf. With Uefa holding 55 votes, Concacaf 35 and Asia 46, support from all those associations for their confederations’ positions would have meant 136 votes against the plan.

Fifa chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said the governing body’s administration had been “deceived” about what he called “the project of one person”. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned, describing the proposal as “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future”.

Infantino, 56, is seeking re-election for a fourth term as Fifa president at the organisation’s 77th Congress in Morocco next March. He said he intended to bring interested parties back together in a spirit of shared interest in football, reiterating that the aim had been to strengthen member associations, especially where support was most needed.