FIFA Digs In as Senior Advisor Quits and Concacaf, AFC Join UEFA in Rejecting $20bn World Cup Plan
Gianni Infantino is pressing ahead with his $20 billion World Cup investment plan despite a wave of defections — including the resignation of his own senior advisor — insisting "nobody is selling football."
FIFA's defense
Facing the fallout from UEFA's unanimous boycott vote, FIFA issued a statement insisting "nobody is selling football," pushing back on what it called "erroneous reporting in the media" that it says distorted the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal. FIFA said it intends to proceed with a consultation period so member associations can vote "based on facts," and gave no indication it would withdraw or amend the plan.
Cordeiro resigns in protest
The defiance came at a cost. Carlos Cordeiro — a senior advisor to Infantino and FIFA's representative on the White House Task Force for the World Cup — resigned Friday, calling the plan "a bad deal for FIFA's Member Associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game." Cordeiro said he "had no involvement in this proposal" and opposed it "unequivocally," a striking break from inside Infantino's own camp.
Concacaf and AFC join the rejection
UEFA is no longer alone. Concacaf, the confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have both rejected the proposal, though neither has followed UEFA in threatening to boycott competitions outright. It's a serious blow to Infantino's push for a majority vote among FIFA's 211 member associations.
What's next
Member associations have until September 19 to decide. With UEFA's boycott threat still live, two more confederations now opposed, and a resignation from within FIFA's own inner circle, the standoff shows no sign of cooling — and FIFA still hasn't blinked.
Sources: Sky Sports, ESPN, Al Jazeera, Forbes, Yahoo Sports, France 24, July 2026.