Carlos Cordeiro resigns from his role as a senior advisor to FIFA president Gianni Infantino after publicly opposing the organisation’s proposal to sell a stake in a new World Cup commercial venture. The ex-U.S. Soccer Federation vice president said the move would be “bad for the long-term interests of the football game” on Friday and announced his immediate resignation from the position.
Since FIFA is taking into account whether to let outside investors to buy into parts of the World Cup’s commercial structure, Cordeiro said he could not stay on in his role as part of the organisation’s global growth strategy.
The idea is that FIFA would set up a branch called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) that handles the World Cup and other major FIFA events, with the backing of the funds. The plan called for an up to 20% stake in the company to be sold to outsiders.
Cordeiro made this clear in his resignation statement, where he pointed out that he was not involved in the formulation of the proposal and was very against the concept. He was concerned that selling off some of the World Cup would have a detrimental impact on FIFA’s member associations and the future of the sport.
The resignation is part of a developing debate on the commercial expansion of FIFA and the private investment in the world’s largest football tournaments. The World Cup is still the most valuable asset FIFA has–it pulls huge earnings from the broadcasting rights, the sponsorships, and the partnerships it holds.
But with Cordeiro gone, there is pressure on FIFA in its assessment of the structure and future of the proposed enterprise. The governing body have not said whether there will be any changes to the investment plan after the criticism.
