FIFA President Gianni Infantino has withdrawn his plans to sell stakes in FIFA competitions to private investors.
Infantino's plans had been met with widespread condemnation from across the football world.
In a statement on Saturday, Infantino said: "Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place."
What were FIFA chief's Infantino's private investor plans?
Infantino's proposal would have created a commercial subsidiary, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run competitions like the World Cup, selling broadcasting and sponsorship, tickets and hospitality.Under the plans, FIFA would sell minority stakes in FFE to private equity investors. The proposed investor consortium was to be led by "Thrive Eternal," a fund run by "Thrive Capital," which was founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
