FIFA President Gianni Infantino has decided to abandon his plan to sell the FIFA World Cup shares following overwhelmingly fierce backlash..

Sky Sports reported on Saturday, citing an official FIFA source, that FIFA President Gianni Infantino has decided to abandon his plan to sell the FIFA World Cup shares.

According to the report, after careful consideration and facing strong opposition, Infantino decided to abandon the plan, despite its initial intention to enhance the competitiveness and economic benefits of the World Cup.

In an official statement released to the media, he wrote: "The FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project aims to lay the foundation for further strengthening FIFA member associations and the development of football globally, especially in those countries that need support the most."

"More importantly, as we have emphasized from the beginning, this project can only proceed with the support of the majority of FIFA member associations, and through constant consultation with member associations, the FIFA Council, continental federations, and the wider stakeholder base."

"After carefully considering all opinions, we clearly recognize that the project has created divisions, and these divisions, regardless of the level of support, no longer align with our original objectives. Our aim has always been—and always will be—to work together for progress." "Therefore, this proposal will no longer be pursued. Looking ahead, I plan to convene all stakeholders again in the coming weeks, driven by a shared passion for the development of football, to work together to continue the sport's growth around the world, especially in the countries that need our support the most."

UEFA immediately welcomed Infantino's decision to abandon his plan to sell the World Cup shares through its official website.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin stated in an official statement: "UEFA thanks all the fans, leagues, clubs, players, individuals, associations and federations that opposed this plan, as well as the numerous prime ministers, heads of state and commentators, who showed the FIFA president that football cannot be bought and sold."

“We can’t continue like this. These secret plans, concocted by anonymous individuals and hastily implemented, have questionable benefits for football. We must find those responsible and hold them accountable.”

“In the coming days and weeks, UEFA will work with the member associations and closely with other continental confederations to reflect on how this happened and develop plans to ensure such incidents do not occur again.”

“This review must be thorough and fundamental. No option should be ruled out. The current FIFA leadership has lost not only the trust of UEFA but also the trust of many other members of the football family.”

“In 2016, when Gianni Infantino asked FIFA member associations to trust him and vote for him as president, he said: ‘We must, of course, maintain transparency. I have upheld this principle for the past 15 years in my work at UEFA. You must be involved in the operation of FIFA every day.’”

He then told the stakeholders present: ‘FIFA’s money is your money, not the FIFA president’s money, but your money.’ “You are national associations, and FIFA’s money must be used for the development of football, and not for any other purpose.”

“However, he failed to deliver on these two promises. The shady backroom deal he concocted and attempted to force through was anything but transparent.”

“Despite FIFA having over $5 billion (£3.7 billion) in reserves, he failed to use these funds for the benefit of football.”

“UEFA will immediately work with partners and stakeholders around the world, and all sectors of the football community, to propose a new way of allocating resources through the existing FIFA Forward program.”

“We must begin to utilize the idle funds in FIFA’s bank accounts to revitalize grassroots football in FIFA’s 211 member countries and the sport of football as a whole. But we don’t need to sell our assets for this.”

“This is a victory for the entire football community. But this is by no means the end of the story. The proposal has been submitted, and the task of rebuilding public trust in FIFA has only just begun.”

On the other hand, The Times, which initially broke the news of FIFA and Infantino's plans, also followed up with a report.

The report pointed out that although Infantino decided to abandon the plan, his personal reputation and that of FIFA had suffered from the distrust of officials from numerous football associations and national leaders across continents.

This, coupled with his outrageous actions during the United States, Canada and Mexico World Cup, including revoking the red card of American striker Folalrn Balogun and indications of targeting the Iranian national team, severely damaged Infantino's image.

Furthermore, one of the main reasons which prompted Infantino to abandon his plan was that Čeferin had already initiated a motion of no confidence against the former with the FIFA Council.

Meanwhile, FIFA officials also revealed to the media that Infantino had not consulted with the authorities before announcing the plan.

Finally, journalists also believe that it will be extremely difficult for FIFA and Infantino himself to regain the trust of others.

The news of Infantino's intention to sell World Cup shares was broken by The Times on July 28th, UK time.

According to the report, Infantino has proposed establishing a commercial subsidiary called "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE) to handle the commercial operations of the World Cup and other FIFA events, and to sell minority shares to private investors. The company is reportedly valued at approximately $20 billion.

It is understood that private investors will hold approximately 20% of FFE's shares, with the investment group led by Thrive Eternal, founded by American entrepreneur Joshua Kushner.

Jared Kushner is related to current US President Donald Trump by marriage, leading many to question whether the establishment of the FFF is closely linked to Infantino and Trump, and the latter's suspected interference is unavoidable.

FIFA has proposed a plan to its 211 member associations, offering each association a new funding package totaling $10 billion starting in 2027 if supported by September 19th, averaging approximately $40 million per association; if the plan is rejected, the existing funding plan of approximately $2.7 billion will remain.

This announcement immediately sparked strong criticism from fans, media, journalists worldwide as well as UEFA, and CONCACAF. UEFA even threatened to boycott any international tournaments organized by FIFA.

Other opponents worry that private investors pursuing commercial returns, and FIFA's commitment to increasing development funding for member associations, could lead to an increase in the number of matches, further impacting the already overly packed global football schedule.

However, FIFA emphasizes that investors do not and have no right to participate in determining the scale and frequency of major tournaments such as the World Cup, the Women's World Cup, and the Club World Cup.

Image source: Internet / Getty Images