Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, resigned on Friday, July 31, 2026 [1].
The resignation signals a deepening rift within the soccer governing body over the commercial future of its most valuable asset. By stepping down, Cordeiro highlights internal opposition to shifting the World Cup from a non-profit model toward private equity ownership.
Cordeiro resigned in Geneva, Switzerland, in protest of a plan to sell a stake in the World Cup's commercial interests to private-equity investors [2]. He said the proposed sell-off was "a bad deal for football" [3].
This move marks a significant public break between Infantino and one of his key advisers. The plan to monetize commercial rights has created friction among the organization's leadership and staff, a tension that has now reached the highest levels of the administration.
Cordeiro is one of two senior FIFA officials who have publicly criticized the privatization strategy [4]. Another senior official, speaking anonymously, said that staff members were "deceived" by the nature of the plan [5].
FIFA has not yet detailed the specific terms of the private equity deal or the percentage of commercial interests intended for sale. However, the internal backlash suggests that the move is viewed by some as a risk to the long-term integrity of the sport's global tournament.
“"a bad deal for football."”
The resignation of a top adviser to the president suggests that FIFA's push for private equity investment is facing critical internal resistance. If senior leadership cannot align on the commercialization of the World Cup, the organization may face instability or further boycotts from regional bodies as the tournament's financial structure shifts toward a profit-driven model.
