FIFA’s privatization crisis deepens as senior advisor resigns over Infantino’s World Cup stake sale

The walls are closing in on Gianni Infantino. FIFA’s president spent years consolidating power over global football’s governing body, but his latest move, selling stakes in a new private company tied to the World Cup’s commercial rights, has triggered a rebellion that now includes people inside his own organization. Carlos Cordeiro, a senior advisor to FIFA, resigned from his position on July 31, 2026, after five years in the role. His reason was blunt: the proposed stake sale would be detrimental to FIFA’s Member Associations and the long-term future of the sport. Burnham lights the match, Cordeiro pours the gasoline Cordeiro’s resignation didn’t happen in a vacuum. It came at the tail end of a bruising few days that started with Andy Burnham, the UK Prime Minister, publicly questioning Infantino’s fitness to lead FIFA. Between July 28 and July 31, Burnham delivered a series of sharp criticisms that left little room for diplomatic interpretation. He called Infantino “the wrong man to lead the organization” and labeled the private investment proposal as “outrageous.” “Football does not belong to investors. The World Cup was never anyone’s to sell.” The UK is co-hosting the 2030 Wor...