A dispute over FIFA’s plan to bring private-equity investors into its commercial operations intensified Friday as two senior figures publicly challenged President Gianni Infantino.

FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour told The Associated Press that staff had been kept out of the planning process and said the proposal should not proceed. He remained in his post but said he was prepared to lose his job for speaking out.

Hours earlier, senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned. Cordeiro, a former U.S. Soccer Federation president and former Goldman Sachs banker, said he had not participated in the negotiations and opposed selling a permanent stake in the World Cup business.

The proposal described by AP would place FIFA’s commercial operations — including the men’s and women’s World Cups and Club World Cups — in a subsidiary valued at $20 billion. Private investors would own 20%, raising about $4.2 billion. FIFA member associations are considering offers reportedly worth $20 million each ahead of a September 19 deadline.

European soccer nations have threatened to boycott FIFA competitions if the plan advances, and Concacaf, the governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, has rejected it. FIFA had not announced that the proposal was withdrawn.

The dispute concerns control of future tournament revenue and the transparency of decision-making inside soccer’s global governing body. Cordeiro argued that FIFA’s reserves, lack of debt and recent World Cup revenue weaken the case for a permanent outside stake. Those are his judgments; the transaction remains a proposal rather than a completed sale.

Sources: Associated Press, July 31, 2026: https://apnews.com/article/cordeiro-infantino-fifa-executive-world-cup-4cff20f6e2dda925e6d5395b56dcf9ab El País, July 31, 2026: https://elpais.com/deportes/futbol/2026-07-31/la-confederacion-asiatica-de-futbol-respalda-a-la-uefa-y-la-concafaf-en-su-oposicion-al-proyecto-de-la-fifa-de-privatizar-el-mundial.html