Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he no longer has confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino following controversy over a now-abandoned proposal to sell part of FIFA’s commercial interests to private investors.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, August 5, Carney criticised Infantino’s handling of the proposal, which would have seen the creation of a commercial subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to manage competitions including the FIFA World Cup. The proposal sought to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling a 20 per cent stake in the subsidiary, valuing the business at approximately $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 plan drew widespread opposition from football governing bodies, including UEFA and CONCACAF. UEFA threatened to boycott FIFA competitions if the proposal proceeded, while CONCACAF also rejected the initiative. Carney also referenced the resignation of Carlos Cordeiro, who had represented FIFA on the White House Task Force for the World Cup.
“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.”
Criticising FIFA’s governance, Carney added: “This is not how you run any business, a small business, let alone something that is a global responsibility like football.”
Following the backlash, Infantino announced that FIFA would abandon the proposal to sell stakes in its commercial operations. Carney had appeared alongside Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which was co-hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico, including at the tournament’s final where they presented awards.
“I’ve run a few organizations in my time,” Carney said. “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.”