FIFA drops a stake-sale plan after a senior adviser quits and confederations object

Carlos Cordeiro, a senior FIFA executive and adviser to president Gianni Infantino, resigned in protest of plans to sell stakes in FIFA Forward Enterprise to private investors, including JPMorgan Chase. He said the proposal would be harmful for FIFA's members, for football, and for the long-term future of the game. The resignation was aimed at the sale proposal. It did not by itself cancel the plan.

The Asian Football Confederation joined UEFA in opposing the plans. The Asian body vowed to boycott the next tournament if the plans went ahead. That threat linked a commercial proposal to participation in a competition. UEFA's opposition was already part of the report that the Asian confederation joined.

Infantino then reversed the plan to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup. The reversal was reported after the backlash from inside FIFA and from confederations. The note says the sale plan was dropped. It does not publish a new commercial structure to replace it.

UEFA gave Infantino an ultimatum to resign or face an emergency no-confidence vote. The ultimatum followed the stake-sale plan, which he had rescinded. A no-confidence vote would be a challenge to his leadership even after the reversal. The report does not say the vote was held.

The accounts use two labels for the proposal: a sale of stakes in FIFA Forward Enterprise, and a sale of stakes in the FIFA World Cup. Both descriptions appear in the week's reports of the same dispute. The reversal is attached to the World Cup stake sale. The resignation is attached to the enterprise sale and names JPMorgan Chase among the proposed investors.

No price for the stakes is stated. No list of every confederation's vote is given. The confirmed sequence is a senior adviser's resignation, opposition from UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation with a boycott threat, a reversal by Infantino, and a UEFA ultimatum that he resign or face an emergency no-confidence vote.