FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro has resigned due to his opposition to plans to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.Cordeiro, 70, had been in the role for five years following a career in investment banking. He described FIFA’s proposals as “a bad deal for FIFA’s Member Associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game.”World football’s governing body announced its plans on Tuesday to sell a significant minority stake in a new entity that it, as a non-profit organisation, is setting up to run its main events, such as the World Cups and Club World Cups. The proposals attracted significant backlash, including from federations UEFA (Europe), Concacaf (North and Central America) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), with the former threatening to boycott the World Cup unless the plans were abandoned.Cordeiro, who also represented FIFA on the U.S. government’s World Cup task force for the 2026 tournament, wrote in a statement: “As a Senior Advisor to the FIFA President, a former banker, and a lifelong football fan, I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup.“I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally.“Football has been central to my life, and after more than 35 years in banking, I understand both the value of this asset and the consequences of giving part of it away. That is why this proposal should be rejected.”Cordeiro alongside Infantino and President Donald Trump in 2025. (Doug Mills /POOL / AFP via Getty Images)FIFA wants to sell a fifth of the new entity, called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE), to an investor group led by Thrive Eternal for $4.2billion (£3.1bn). This will then be distributed to those member associations who want to “participate” via a new funding scheme called FIFA Fast-Forward Programme (FFFP).