Arsène Wenger Supports Infantino's Decision to Abandon World Cup Investment Plan

Arsène Wenger has thrown his weight behind Gianni Infantino’s decision to abandon a controversial plan to sell a stake in a new World Cup company to private investors, calling the climbdown “absolutely necessary and beyond question”.

The former Arsenal manager, now FIFA’s chief of global football development, broke his silence on Tuesday, a week after news first emerged of Infantino’s proposal to create FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and sell 20% of it to private equity.

The backlash was swift and fierce. Three continental confederations rejected the idea outright, with UEFA going as far as threatening to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions if the project went ahead. Faced with that level of resistance, Infantino pulled the plug.

Wenger has now made it clear he stood firmly against the plan.

In a detailed statement, the Frenchman underlined his role and his principles. “At FIFA, I am the Chief of Global Football Development,” he said, before outlining his day-to-day responsibilities: overseeing data analysis of the game, running the FIFA online training centre, driving youth education through 60 academies across 60 countries “where they are most needed”, and supervising youth competitions worldwide. He also serves as a technical adviser to IFAB.

Then came the key line. Wenger stressed he had no part in shaping the FFE project and only discovered it through media reports. That distance matters. At a moment when trust in football’s global leadership is again under scrutiny, one of the sport’s most respected figures wanted to draw a clear line.

“I was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports,” he said. “The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent FIFA that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity.”

Unlike Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser who chose to resign over the affair, Wenger has not indicated any intention to leave FIFA. He stays inside the organisation, but his message is unmistakable: the world governing body, in his view, must remain independent and anchored in football’s wider interests, not those of private capital.

In a week when power, money and the future of the World Cup collided, Wenger has nailed his colours to the mast of what he believes FIFA should be.