Infantino's FIFA future in jeopardy after private equity gamble backfires

Aug 1 : FIFA president Gianni Infantino, hitherto untouchable at the helm of soccer's global governing body, suffered a crushing blow on Friday when his bold reach for private equity riches was brought to an end in the face of a ferocious backlash.

A FIFA statement, attributed to Infantino, conceded that the proposal to create a commercial entity to run the World Cup and other tournaments, 20 per cent of which would be sold to private investors, was divisive and dead in the water.

The concession ended three days of civil war in the football world which peaked when Europe's UEFA, the richest and most influential of soccer's six regional confederations, announced a boycott of all FIFA events until the proposal was ditched.

The plan was Infantino's baby and its demise less than two weeks after the most lucrative World Cup in history has left the 56-year-old Swiss administrator isolated at the top of an organisation he had been planning to run for another 4-1/2 years. 

"A week ago, Infantino's riding high and was almost certain to get elected overwhelmingly because he's run against such a financially successful tournament," Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College Of The Holy Cross in Massachusetts, told Reuters. "That's all in jeopardy now."

Before the World Cup, Infantino's re-election for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March had looked like a slam dunk with no rival candidates in the frame. 

The picture has shifted radically after three days during which even the most loyal confederations raged at the lack of consultation over the proposal, and Infantino faced accusations of selling the soul of the game.

After FIFA doubled down on the plan on Friday with a statement that reiterated the promise of