FIFA scraps controversial plan to sell World Cup stakes

The World Cup is no longer for sale. 

All it took was the threat of a massive boycott from every major soccer power in the world, a series of resignations and immense criticism. 

FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced on Friday that he is backing away from a proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup. 

FIFA scraps controversial plan to sell World Cup stakes

Infantino announced a plan on Tuesday that would have created a $20 billion company to run the World Cup with private investors.

The plan was immediately and harshly panned by pretty much everybody involved with soccer on an international level.

Earlier on Friday, multiple senior advisers with FIFA protested the move, including one who completely resigned. 

The pushback was so fierce, and so potentially damaging, that UEFA nations threatened to not only boycott the World Cup, but pretty much all international competitions.

That resulted in Infantino abandoning his plan.

"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," he said, via ESPN.

This could prove to be a devastating misstep for Infantino when it comes to his role within the organization.

He is eligible for one more four-year term as FIFA president.

He ran unopposed for the role in 2019 and 2023.

This proposal was so unpopular, and so potentially damaging to the global game, that it might result in some serious competition for the role when the next presidential contest is held.