FIFA World Cup plan fallout: Infantino’s senior adviser Cordeiro resigns

Pressure is growing on FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino following proposals for private investment in World Cups.Carlos Cordeiro, senior adviser to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, has resigned following the proposal by football’s governing body to sell a stake in its World Cups and events.Cordeiro said on Friday that he is stepping down with immediate effect in ⁠protest at proposals to seek private investment in a newly formed FIFA-forward-enterprise" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="173293" data-entity-type="organization">FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) venture, ‌calling the plan “a bad deal for football”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the FIFA-world-cup" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="1741" data-entity-type="event">FIFA World Cup: All to knowlist 2 of 4What has FIFA charged Argentina with, and what could the punishment be?list 3 of 4Storm apologize after co-owner berates teen girls for support of Cunninghamlist 4 of 4Viral finger-clicker suspended as cricket storm remains in global spotlightend of listIn FIFA’s plan, the FFE would create a $20bn subsidiary to run the World Cup and its other events, with a stake of up to 20 percent to be offered to external investors. It would be bankrolled by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.“Let me be clear: I had no involvement in this proposal ⁠and I oppose ⁠it unequivocally,” Cordeiro said in a statement.“It is ⁠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 had represented football’s global governing body on the White House Task Force for the 2026 World Cup, held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.A former banker and ex-US Soccer Federation vice president, Cordeiro was hand-picked to ⁠help grow world football for FIFA.In his statement, Cordeiro questioned why FIFA would consider raising $4.2bn by selling part of its “most valuable asset” when the organisation sits on billions of dollars in reserves and has no debt.His resignation comes as FIFA’s 211 member associations face pressure to decide on the controversial proposal by September 19, with Infantino ⁠saying they “risk being left behind” if they do not accept it.