FIFA President Gianni Infantino could have increased his annual salary nearly tenfold, from €3 million to €30 million, under a plan to sell part of the commercial rights to the World Cup, according to The Times, as reported by infohub.kz.
The newspaper said Infantino could also have received additional bonuses for leading the new company FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which FIFA planned to create to manage its commercial assets.
The organization's plans became known on July 28. FIFA intended to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise with a valuation of $20 billion and sell 25% of the company to external investors for $4.2 billion.
According to media reports, about 20% of shares were to be acquired by a group of investors led by Joshua Kushner. His brother Jared Kushner is the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Financial Times reported that JPMorgan, FIFA, and Kushner's team had worked on the project for several months.
However, the initiative faced stiff resistance from football federations. UEFA, CONCACAF, the Asian Football Confederation, and CONMEBOL opposed the deal. Moreover, all 55 UEFA members at an extraordinary meeting decided to boycott tournaments under FIFA's auspices if the organization did not abandon the project.
Under pressure from critics, on August 1 Infantino announced that FIFA would not sell part of the commercial rights to the World Cup. After that, UEFA said that the current FIFA leadership had "lost the trust not only of UEFA but also of many other members of the football family."
Earlier, The Telegraph reported that UEFA had given Infantino an ultimatum: resign or face a vote of no confidence.
Gianni Infantino has headed FIFA since 2016. He has previously stated his intention to run again for the organization's presidency in March next year.