Fifa is seeking private investment in the World Cup and its other competitions, with a proposed investment in excess of £7.5bn. According to a Fifa statement, the money would be used to 'expand football development funding'.
Infantino's 2016 promises revisited
The move comes as a stark contrast to Gianni Infantino's 2016 election promises. Upon becoming Fifa president, Infantino vowed to restore the organisation's image after corruption scandals. 'Fifa has gone through sad times, moments of crisis. But those times are over. We enter now a new era. We’ll restore the image of Fifa and make sure you will be happy with what we do,' he said then. He also addressed Fifa's $550m financial black hole, stating: 'It’s your money, not the money of the Fifa president. The money of Fifa has to be used to develop football … We have to build bridges, not walls.'
Criticism mounts
Uefa, Concacaf and the FA are among those who have strongly criticised the proposals. Uefa’s 55 members are to hold an emergency meeting, with a potential World Cup boycott on the table. Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter also weighed in, saying: 'Football belongs to no individual and to no institution. It belongs to the people. If Fifa were transferred into a profit-oriented corporate structure, it would lose its soul.'
The FA director David Gill had previously welcomed Infantino's election as 'a good day for football', while American Fifa executive committee member Sunil Gulati called it 'a good day for the sport'.
