FIFA Scraps World Cup Stake-Sale Plan After European Boycott Threat

FIFA president Gianni Infantino abandoned a plan — announced just days after the World Cup final — to sell roughly a 20% stake in a new entity that would run FIFA competitions including the World Cup, targeting up to $4.2 billion at a $20 billion valuation. The buyer was to be Thrive Eternal, an investment firm run by Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner; Bloomberg reported the deal originated in secret talks between Infantino and Kushner the previous year. UEFA and every major European national federation threatened to boycott FIFA competitions over the plan, calling it a sale of the sport's 'soul.' FIFA presidential adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest, and COO Kevin Lamour said FIFA staff had been 'blindsided' by the proposal. Infantino said on July 31 that 'the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest' of the game.