FIFA's ambitious plan to part-privatise the World Cup has run into serious trouble, according to BBC News economics editor Faisal Islam, who outlines four key reasons the scheme never truly added up.
Islam points to the way the proposal was presented as a major red flag, arguing the pitch raised far more questions than it answered. Beyond the messaging, he highlights structural issues with the financial model itself, suggesting the numbers behind the part-privatisation didn't hold together under scrutiny.
The BBC report also flags governance concerns, questioning how control and accountability would work if outside investors took a stake in football's showpiece tournament. Timing is another sticking point Islam raises, with the plan reportedly arriving at an awkward moment for FIFA to be seeking new financial partners.
Taken together, Islam's analysis paints a picture of a proposal that was poorly conceived from the outset rather than simply unlucky. While FIFA has not abandoned ambitions to diversify World Cup funding, the BBC's report makes clear this particular plan, as constructed, was always going to struggle to survive contact with reality.