FIFA’s plan to open the World Cup to private investors collapsed on Friday, barely four days after it was unveiled, when president Gianni Infantino announced the proposal would not advance. “Tras escuchar atentamente todas las opiniones, se ha hecho evidente que el proyecto ha generado divisiones de una naturaleza que, independientemente del nivel de apoyo, ya no están en el interés del objetivo establecido en primer lugar,” the governing body said in a statement, adding that its purpose was “unir y mejorar” and that the initiative would therefore be withdrawn.

The retreat came after a cascade of rejections from the sport’s most powerful confederations. The project, named FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), would have created a commercial subsidiary valued at around $20 billion, with up to 20 per cent sold to private investors in exchange for an injection of roughly $4.2 billion. UEFA responded with an ultimatum, declaring that none of its 55 national teams would participate in FIFA competitions while the proposal remained alive. Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) swiftly aligned themselves with that position, the AFC warning that the debate had exposed “debilidades fundamentales” in FIFA’s consultation processes. Only Conmebol held back, requesting additional information on the project’s scope, structure and governance before taking a definitive stance.

The internal pressure was sharpened by the resignation of Carlos Cordeiro, a senior advisor to Infantino and former head of the US Soccer Federation. In a public statement, Cordeiro called the plan “a bad deal for football” and said he opposed it unequivocally. The AFC, meanwhile, noted that the mere fact a World Cup boycott had entered public discourse “should concern everyone who cares about the future of our game.”

The immediate sporting consequence is the uncertainty now hanging over the Women’s Under-20 World Cup, scheduled to begin in Poland on 5 September, with six European sides already qualified. Infantino said he would convene all stakeholders in the coming days and weeks to seek a new path for growing the game, but the episode leaves his commercial strategy in disarray and the calendar of FIFA tournaments facing a threat of mass non-participation from three continents.