FIFA has withdrawn its plan to establish a subsidiary dedicated to the operation and commercial activities of the World Cup [1].

The decision follows a sharp conflict between the global governing body and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The move signals a significant victory for European officials who argued that the world's premier football tournament should not be treated as a commercial product for sale to private investors.

FIFA intended to raise up to 670 billion yen [1] by selling shares of the proposed subsidiary to external investors. The strategy aimed to monetize the tournament's commercial rights through a separate corporate entity, shifting the management of these assets away from the primary governing body's direct structure.

UEFA reacted strongly to the proposal, saying that the World Cup is not for sale [2]. This opposition centered on the belief that the integrity of the competition would be compromised if commercial interests were prioritized over the sport's traditional governance.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed the reversal in a statement released July 31, 2024 [2]. He said that it had become clear the plan created a division that did not align with the organization's original objectives [2].

The reversal prevents the transfer of World Cup commercial operations to a private-equity model, a shift that would have fundamentally altered how the tournament generates and distributes revenue. By abandoning the project, FIFA maintains its current internal control over the event's commercial ecosystem while easing tensions with its most powerful regional confederation.

“The World Cup is not for sale”

This retreat highlights the ongoing power struggle between FIFA's central leadership and UEFA, the wealthiest of the regional confederations. While FIFA sought to unlock massive immediate capital through privatization, UEFA's resistance underscores a preference for maintaining a non-profit, governing-body model over a corporate-investor model. This ensures that the commercial levers of the World Cup remain under the control of football's administrative bodies rather than external shareholders.