Senior FIFA adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned Friday in protest of Gianni Infantino’s controversial plan to spin off World Cup commercial assets into a $20 billion private equity subsidiary. The abrupt exit deepens an expanding global crisis as European, North American, and Asian soccer confederations unite against the proposal.
The internal rebellion at soccer’s governing body hit FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s inner circle on Friday when his senior adviser walked away from the administration. Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker and former U.S. Soccer Federation president, resigned immediately after revealing he had no prior knowledge of the secretive private equity scheme.
The plan involves carving out FIFA’s lucrative commercial operations—including the men’s and women’s World Cups and Club World Cups—into a newly formed $20 billion commercial subsidiary. Under the proposal, a fifth of that new entity, named FIFA Forward Enterprises, would be sold to an investor group led by Thrive Eternal for $4.2 billion, with an anchor investor tied to Joshua Kushner.
Carlos Cordeiro Resigns Over FIFA Commercial Subsidiary Plan
Cordeiro, who spent five years as a senior adviser to Infantino and represented FIFA on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, delivered a sharp rebuke of the leadership’s strategy. Having worked alongside Infantino and U.S. President Donald Trump on working visits in recent years, Cordeiro argued that selling a permanent stake in the sport’s premier asset makes little economic sense given the organization’s existing wealth.
“Let me be clear. I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally.”
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Carlos Cordeiro, former U.S. Soccer Federation president and senior adviser to the FIFA President, via Associated Press
Pointing to the $15 billion in revenue generated during the 2022 to 2026 World Cup cycle, Cordeiro noted that FIFA sits on billions in reserves with zero debt. In his resignation statement, he characterized the arrangement as mortgaging the future of the sport without justification.
“Football has been central to my life, and after more than 35 years in banking, I understand both the value of this asset and the consequences of giving part of it away. That is why this proposal should be rejected.”
Carlos Cordeiro, former U.S. Soccer Federation president and senior adviser to the FIFA President, via The New York Times
Global Confederation Opposition Isolates Gianni Infantino
Cordeiro’s departure coincides with a massive continental backlash against the governing body. UEFA, the European soccer body, threatened to boycott all FIFA games and events—starting with the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Poland—unless the private equity project is scrapped.
North America’s CONCACAF also rejected Infantino’s offer of one-off $20 million payments tied to a mid-September deadline. Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation joined the resistance, delivering a blow to Infantino’s historically reliable base. The AFC, which represents 46 of FIFA’s 211 member nations and is led by Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, issued a statement declaring that the initiative cannot achieve broad consensus.
The Asian body criticized the lack of consultation surrounding the proposal, arguing that it exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA’s decision-making framework. While Infantino appeared poised for an unopposed reelection at next March’s congress in Rabat, Morocco, the growing fracture among member associations places his term under scrutiny ahead of the November 18 candidate deadline.
Disputes Over Governance, Transparency, and Outside Ties
As pushback swells, FIFA leadership has pushed back against critics, insisting in an official statement that nobody is trying to sell football and blaming incorrect media reports for disrupting the consultation process. The organization maintains that member associations deserve the opportunity to vote based on facts.
Photo: Apnews
Critics, however, have questioned both the governance structure of the deal and the political optics surrounding the chosen investors. Thrive Eternal, the investment firm spearheading the acquisition, manages vast assets.
Despite these assurances, Cordeiro’s public exit leaves lingering questions about oversight, valuation, and long-term control that FIFA must address before the scheduled governance votes.
