UEFA says it has lost confidence in FIFA’s Infantino after failed plan to privatize World Cup

NYON, Switzerland — The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) said Saturday that it had lost confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino and that “no option should be off the table” as it will pursue a full review of his now-abandoned plan to sell stakes of the World Cup to private equity investors.

Infantino was forced to scrap the plan early Saturday after his senior adviser who sat on a White House panel resigned and Asia’s soccer body joined Europe and North America in opposing it.

Infantino had proposed creating a $20 billion company to run the World Cup with private investors, including Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law and envoy of US President Donald Trump, but drew backlash that grew every day since Tuesday’s announcement.

“We must identify those responsible and hold them to account,” UEFA said on Saturday. “No option should be off the table. The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.”

The governing body of European soccer, headed by Aleksander Čeferin, issued its blistering statement hours after FIFA announced it was withdrawing its private equity plan.

“We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game,” UEFA said.

“It is right that, in the coming days and weeks, UEFA will work with its associations and in close cooperation with other confederations to reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again.”

UEFA’s 55-member nations agreed to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions over Infantino’s plan on Thursday. North America’s CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation also said they opposed the plan.

Infantino’s senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker who represented the soccer body on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, resigned on Friday and urged other senior FIFA staff to speak out.

“I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” Cordeiro said in a statement, just hours after FIFA insisted: “Nobody is selling football.”

Hours later, FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour issued a statement to The Associated Press, saying FIFA staff were deceived by Infantino’s lack of openness in planning the sale over recent months and that the project must not continue.

Infantino had proposed spinning off FIFA’s commercial businesses — including World Cups and Club World Cups for men and women — into a $20 billion subsidiary with 20% owned by private investors.

The men’s World Cup that finished last month only deepened the political and personal ties between Trump and Infantino, and fueled concerns about those ties, including from UEFA.

Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report

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