Luís Figo Calls for Gianni Infantino to Resign After World Cup Stake Proposal

What happened:

Watch the highlights:

Luís Figo has called for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to resign, describing Infantino’s scrapped proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors as “the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed,” according to The Guardian. Figo, the Portugal legend, said it was “too late to save his dignity, not too late to save football.”

The proposal has already been abandoned after a fierce backlash led by UEFA, the report says. That detail is central: this is not just criticism of an idea still being floated. It is a political crisis following a failed plan that appears to have triggered direct pressure on Infantino’s leadership.

Why it matters:

The World Cup is FIFA’s defining asset, and any attempt to sell stakes in it to private investors goes far beyond normal commercial packaging. Even without the full terms of the proposal, the confirmed backlash suggests major stakeholders saw the plan as a threat to governance, control or the tournament’s public legitimacy. Figo’s intervention adds a high-profile former player’s voice to what was already an institutional confrontation.

The sharpness of Figo’s language also matters. Former stars often criticize football administration in broad terms, but this is a direct demand for the FIFA president to quit. It turns the argument from “was this proposal acceptable?” into “can Infantino credibly continue after making it?”

Tournament impact:

The immediate tournament effect is uncertainty around World Cup governance rather than fixtures, teams or qualification. The report does not say any tournament format, schedule or host arrangement has changed. The bigger issue is whether sponsors, confederations and national associations now push for safeguards around how FIFA commercializes the competition.

If UEFA led the backlash strongly enough to force the proposal’s withdrawal, the balance between FIFA and Europe’s governing body becomes a live fault line. World Cup decisions depend on cooperation across confederations, and a president under pressure may find it harder to drive through major commercial or structural changes. That can influence everything around future bidding, media rights and tournament expansion debates, even if the match calendar remains untouched for now.

What to watch:

The next key moment is Infantino’s response inside FIFA. The Guardian reports that he called an emergency meeting of FIFA staff on Wednesday as pressure mounted. What comes out of that meeting, and whether member associations publicly defend or distance themselves from him, will show whether this is a contained controversy or a genuine leadership threat.

Also watch UEFA’s posture. If its opposition stops with killing the proposal, Infantino may try to stabilize. If UEFA or influential federations escalate toward formal accountability, the crisis becomes much harder to manage.

Confidence:

Confirmed by The Guardian: Figo condemned the World Cup investor proposal, called for Infantino to resign, the plan was scrapped after backlash led by UEFA, and Infantino called an emergency FIFA staff meeting. Still needing follow-up: the exact proposal terms, FIFA’s internal response, and whether any formal move against Infantino follows.