FIFA Advisor Carlos Cordeiro Resigns Over World Cup Stake Sale

Carlos Cordeiro, the man who carried FIFA’s flag into the White House’s World Cup Task Force, has walked away from the job — and done so with a pointed message aimed squarely at his boss.

The senior FIFA advisor has resigned in protest over President Gianni Infantino’s push to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors, a move that has already split global football’s leadership and triggered open revolt from two confederations.

Cordeiro said in a statement that he cannot stand by while Infantino advances a plan to bring in outside capital and effectively carve off part of FIFA’s crown jewel. He urged others inside the organization to speak up as well, turning a quiet internal dispute into a very public challenge.

At the heart of the storm is Infantino’s proposal to sell stakes in World Cup rights to a group of investors anchored by Joshua Kushner, brother of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The political proximity adds another layer of scrutiny to a project already under fire for what critics see as a fundamental reshaping of the game’s biggest tournament.

Cordeiro has been more than a backroom figure. In recent years he frequently joined Infantino on working visits to the White House, helping to build bridges between FIFA and the U.S. administration as World Cup hosting and commercial issues loomed large. His departure rips away a key link in that relationship and signals that opposition to the private equity push is not confined to FIFA’s traditional skeptics.

The backlash outside Zurich is already fierce. The official governing bodies of Europe and Asia have declared they will boycott all FIFA events unless Infantino abandons the plan, an extraordinary act of defiance that threatens to fracture the sport’s global calendar and undercut FIFA’s authority.

Their fear is simple: once private money gets a foothold in the World Cup, the balance of power shifts. Critics warn that investors will chase maximum revenue, squeezing formats, schedules, and fan access, while the competitive and ethical integrity of the tournament drifts into second place. Many are just as angered by the way Infantino has rolled out the proposal, bristling at what they see as a top‑down push with limited transparency.

The World Cup has long been FIFA’s golden asset and football’s shared stage. Now it sits at the center of a battle over who really controls the future of the game — elected officials, or outside investors with a stake in the show.