Gianni Infantino's plan to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup has unravelled at remarkable speed, drawing condemnation from across world football and leaving the FIFA president in the most precarious political position of his decade-long tenure.

UEFA has threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions by its member nations unless the scheme is abandoned entirely. Concacaf has rejected the proposal outright. The Asian Football Confederation has condemned it. Even Infantino's own senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned in protest — a remarkable act of dissent from within FIFA's inner circle.

A council kept in the dark

Among the most striking revelations to emerge from the crisis is that senior figures within FIFA itself were apparently blindsided by the plan. Bernd Neuendorf, president of the German Football Association and a member of the 37-strong FIFA Council — world football's highest executive body — said he first learned of the proposal through the media.