FIFA President, Gianna Infantino continues to face mounting pressure after his senior advisor, Carlos Cordeiro resigned over the plans to sell a stake in a World Cup company to private investors.
This plan from FIFA would bring private investment into the World Cup and other tournaments, with the world soccer governing body stating that it had planned to create a $20 billion (€17 billion) subsidiary to run the World Cup and other competitions, and would provide external investors with stakes of up to 20 percent.
It would see FIFA establish a FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to oversee commercial and event operations.
Mr Infantino's plan has been met with worldwide condemnation, and was rejected by the football confederations in Europe and Asia, while the one representing nations from North and Central America and the Caribbean have also followed suite.
The plan was also rejected by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), another blow to FIFA's much maligned plan, which was already rejected by UEFA and CONCACAF.
In fact, European nations stated that they will boycott all FIFA competitions including the World Cup, until this plan is scrapped.
Now, the pressure on Gianni Infantino has cranked up again, after his senior adviser announced his resignation.
Calling FIFA's plans to create FIFA Forward Enterprises a "bad deal for football", Carlos Cordeiro said in a statement: "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".
Speaking about the plans, the AFC pointed to the "fundamental weaknesses in FIFA’s consultation and decision-making processes that must now be addressed".
It was also reported that the 41 nations which make up the CONCACAF, confederations for North and Central America, as well as the Caribbean are either losing or have lost confidence in Infantino, on top of UEFA's plans to boycott all FIFA tournaments until theses plans are cancelled.
UEFA has accused FIFA of putting football's "soul" up for sale, and yesterday voted to boycott all FIFA competitions until these plans were scrapped.
"Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain," FIFA said in a statement. "Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs around the world".
"Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA," it added.
The plan was backed publicly by Infantino, with a reported invester led by Thrive Eternal, whose founder is Josh Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, son in law of US President, Donald Trump.
To create this new company to run the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments, Infantino would require a majority of FIFA's 211 member associations. But collective opposition to the plans from AFC's 47 members, along with CONCACAF's 41 and UEFA's 55, means that 143 members now stand against the plans.
Any promises of big financial returns if FFE is allowed to go through would be unlikely, if future men's and women's World Cups take place without European participation.
It would also impact the women's under 20 World Cup, set to take place in Poland in September, while the senior women's World Cup in Brazil next Summer would also be in jeopardy, with qualifiers due to take place in the autumn, including Rep of Ireland's clash with Kazakhstan in the first round of the play offs.
The winner of that match will play either Belgium or Poland in the final.
UEFA's opposition these new plans from FIFA was also backed by the FAI, who said in a statement: "The Football Association of Ireland supports UEFA along with all member associations in rejecting FIFA's proposal to transfer ownership interests in the FIFA World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors".
"The Association believes that decisions of this significance must be founded on strong governance, transparency and meaningful consultation. In solidarity with UEFA's position, Ireland's national teams will not participate in FIFA competitions while these proposals remain under consideration". (quotes according to RTÉ).
