Fifa private money plan had to be scrapped - Wenger

What the report says

Arsene Wenger, Fifa’s chief of global football development, has said the decision to abandon a plan to bring private investment into Fifa competitions was necessary. According to Nile Post’s report, the proposal was championed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino and would have created a commercial subsidiary to manage major events, including the men’s World Cup, with outside investors able to take stakes.

The plan drew strong backlash from across European football. The article says Uefa’s 55 member nations threatened to boycott Fifa tournaments, while Infantino had reportedly offered Fifa’s 211 member associations $40 million each in support of the proposal. After several days of criticism, the Fifa president withdrew the idea.

Wenger, who has held his Fifa development role since 2019, said he was not involved in drafting the strategy and only learned of it through media coverage. He later called for transparency and integrity in Fifa’s governance. The report also notes that former Infantino adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned over the episode, describing the plan as harmful to football.

The episode matters because it highlights continuing tensions over how Fifa is run, how its competitions are financed, and how much influence outside money should have over the sport’s biggest events.