Arsène Wenger supports dropping Infantino's World Cup sell-off plan

FIFA's chief of global football development Arsene Wenger has said Gianni Infantino's decision to withdraw from a plan to sell stakes in a World Cup company to private investors was "absolutely necessary and beyond question."

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the decision to scrap FIFA president Gianni Infantino's controversial plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup was "absolutely necessary and beyond question".Infantino wanted to sell a 20 per cent stake in the World Cup to private equity investors through his FIFA Forward Enterprise.

FIFA’s chief of global football development Arsene Wenger says Gianni Infantino’s decision to withdraw from a plan to sell stakes in a World Cup company to private investors was “absolutely necessary and beyond question”. Former Arsenal manager Wenger issued a statement on Tuesday morning a week on from the first reports emerging about Infantino’s plan to create FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and sell a 20% stake in it to private equity.

FIFA executive Arsène Wenger on Tuesday distanced himself from Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors and said it was “absolutely necessary” to drop the proposal. Wenger’s statement on the controversy came after a letter from UEFA’s lawyers to Infantino threatening legal action named the French coaching great among 18 executives whose data and communications should be retained as potential evidence. “I was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports,” said Wenger, who was hired by Infantino in 2019 and is FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development.