Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has declared that he has lost confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino following the controversy surrounding a now-withdrawn proposal to sell part of FIFA’s commercial business to private investors.
Speaking during a news conference on Wednesday, August 5, Carney criticised Infantino’s handling of the proposed deal, which would have involved creating a commercial subsidiary known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to oversee competitions, including the FIFA World Cup.
The proposal aimed to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling a 20 per cent stake in the subsidiary, valuing the business at about $20 billion.
“[FIFA] have their own procedures for making those determinations but certainly I don’t have confidence in Mr. Infantino after this point, given what transpired and given the nature of what transpired,” Carney said.
The proposal faced strong opposition from major football governing bodies. UEFA threatened to boycott FIFA competitions if the plan went ahead, while CONCACAF also rejected the initiative.
Carney also pointed to the resignation of Carlos Cordeiro, FIFA’s representative on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, as part of his criticism.
“Carlos Cordeiro is someone I’ve known for more than three decades,” Carney said. “Very high integrity individual and he was [Infantino’s] adviser and had expertise in all the aspects of what was proposed and he was not consulted.”
He further criticised FIFA’s leadership, saying the organisation had failed to follow basic governance principles.
“This is not how you run any business, a small business, let alone something that is a global responsibility like football,” Carney stated.
Following the widespread backlash, Infantino announced that FIFA would abandon the proposal to sell stakes in its commercial operations.
Carney and Infantino had previously appeared together during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which was jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico. The two were also present at the tournament’s final, where they presented awards to the winners.
Reflecting on the issue, Carney added: “I’ve run a few organizations in my time. Not to disclose to your closest advisers, your chief operating officer, your fellow board members, something of consequence that you’re even considering, let alone proposing, that should be fatal and you lose confidence in that individual.”
