“Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” Infantino said in a statement. “Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
Read More: FIFA Draws Fury Over Plan to Sell Stakes in World Cup
But the criticism has not abated with Infantino’s reversal. UEFA and CONCACAF—the governing body for North and Central American and Caribbean soccer—continued to attack the underlying premise and said they would seek ways to prevent future attempts to advance it.
The organization said it would “reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again,” adding: “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.”
“The fervent torrent of rejection emerging from numerous federations is extremely significant,” Jules Boykoff, professor of political science at Pacific University, tells TIME. “It signals that, despite FIFA's clientelistic patronage network—whereby FIFA brings in billions and redistributes millions to member associations around the world—Infantino overplayed his hand.”
CONCACAF, which comprises 41 member associations, said that the fact that the plan materialized at all was a “symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first.”
The FIFA President is not without some friends. Qatar’s Football Association has thrown its weight behind him, saying it “fully supports [his] efforts to continue growing and strengthening the game globally.”
Who are possible challengers to FIFA President Gianni Infantino?
Infantino was originally expected to easily retain his position at the helm of FIFA in March 2027.
“FIFA is full of sharks, and there's no question that many of them can smell blood. Infantino's election in 2027, which seemed like a sure bet only a few days ago, is now an open question,” Boykoff says.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), was defeated by Infantino in 2016, the current administrator’s first term, but he could return a decade later as a frontrunner. He called Infantino’s investment proposal and his failure to consult AFC on it “totally unacceptable,” putting the two publicly at odds.
Once the world of soccer is no longer in the immediate wake of the equity venture controversy, more contenders could emerge.
“I think he’ll be weakened, but it's the classic case of if you come for the king, you better kill him, you can't leave him just wounded,” Bank says. “And none of the prospective candidates for president are free from problems themselves.”
Regional administrators who are worried about FIFA corruption should be concerned with more than just Infantino, Bank adds, saying that he is merely part of a larger, ongoing issue.
“This is not a single-person issue,” Bank explains, warning that a replacement for Infantino could just as easily come in and try advancing a similar plan in the years ahead.
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