GENEVA — FIFA has abandoned its plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors, a $20 billion proposal that would have made the world’s most popular sport slightly more profitable for exactly the people holding the receipts.

The plan’s architect, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, has not commented — which is remarkable, because his two most senior deputies have spent the entire week commenting for him. Arsène Wenger said in a statement that he knew nothing of the $20 billion plan and that dropping it was “absolutely necessary,” while FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström emailed all staff calling the past week “sad”.

In other words: the $20 billion proposal was simultaneously a complete surprise to everyone in FIFA’s leadership and a project whose failure required a coordinated, intercontinental statement campaign. That is what experts call institutional buy-in.

"The vision was sound. The timing was visionary. The problem was the football," said one adviser familiar with the plan's thinking, who described the proposal as "a classic case of being too early, too bold, and too transparent about the tens of millions of dollars it would have generated for its architects."

The proposal had offered each of FIFA’s 211 member associations the “opportunity” to access up to $20 million in one-off capital, with participation described as “entirely voluntary” — which is, of course, the first thing every visionary says when they are handing out twenty million dollars. Who says no to free money? As it turns out, most of the football world. UEFA threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments. National associations balked. The entire planet, it seems, prefers to own its own future rather than sell it to private equity for a quick twenty million.

Small minds. Small ambitions. Small thoughts about the long-term value of being owned by investors who have never touched a ball but have definitely touched a spreadsheet.

The Deal They Refused

  • $20 billion: The total raise envisioned from private investors
  • $20 million: The one-off "opportunity" dangled before each of FIFA's 211 member associations
  • 1: The number of strings attached — a stake in your own future, which, as everyone knows, is the best kind of stake
  • Tens of millions: What the plan could have earned its architects personally, per reporting — a detail that sources describe as "totally irrelevant" to the vision
  • 0: Number of associations that asked "wait, which future?" before the meeting adjourned

At press time, Infantino was reportedly sketching out a follow-up proposal to sell “vibes in the 2026 World Cup final,” which he described as “strictly optional, entirely voluntary, and already 40 percent sold.”