FIFA plans to sell stake in World Cup commercial rights vehicle — UEFA and AFC push back

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Plan for sale of commercial rights to World Cup causes chaos with Uefa, AFC and Concacaf leading the opposition

It has been a week that has rocked football. The news caught everyone by surprise. When reports first emerged on Tuesday afternoon that Fifa, world football’s governing body, was to launch a vehicle to control the commercial rights to the World Cup , and would sell a stake of this company to investors, even members of the central decision-making body, the Fifa Council, hadn’t known about it. But it was equally the case that the story – first broken by the Times – caught Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, unawares. Fifa were rushed into announcing a plan they had wanted to keep under wraps for longer, and in the full glare of global media interest.

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