Arsène Wenger did not put his name to the plan, did not defend the plan, and, according to his own statement on Tuesday, did not even know about the plan until he read about it in the media.

The Frenchman has been FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development since Infantino appointed him in 2019. He is the most senior figure inside the governing body to publicly distance himself from the president’s failed attempt to bring private investors into the World Cup.

“The recent events at FIFA deserve some clarity from my side,” Wenger wrote in his statement.

“I firmly believe in an independent FIFA that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity.”

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On the U-turn itself his verdict was blunt: the decision to withdraw the project was “absolutely necessary and beyond question.”

The $4.2bn proposal Wenger was not shown

Infantino unveiled FIFA Forward Enterprise on Tuesday 28 July. The vehicle would have raised $4.2bn by selling roughly a 20% stake in a new subsidiary running the World Cup and other FIFA events, valuing it at $20bn. Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital, through a fund named Thrive Eternal, was lined up to lead the investment.

Each of FIFA’s 211 member federations was offered a one-time $20m payment as an incentive, according to a formal legal notice later served on FIFA.

How UEFA broke the plan in 72 hours

Two days after the announcement, all 55 UEFA members voted unanimously to boycott every FIFA competition, national teams included, unless the proposal was scrapped.

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“The World Cup is not for sale,” the confederation said.

CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation rejected the plan alongside UEFA, and senior FIFA figures, chief operating officer Kevin Lamour and former senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro, broke publicly with Infantino, with Cordeiro resigning and calling the proposal “a bad deal for football.”

On Friday, UEFA escalated. Its law firm Dechert sent FIFA a formal notice threatening legal action, arbitration and regulatory complaints over the FFE plan, and instructing 18 named FIFA executives to preserve every document and email connected to it.

Within hours, Infantino pulled the plan.

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“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,” the FIFA president said. “This proposal will not proceed.”

Wenger runs FIFA’s football operation

Wenger’s brief inside FIFA is the game, not commerce: data analysis, the online training centre, 60 youth academies and technical advisory work for IFAB, the body that writes the laws of football.

Infantino’s biggest commercial project was sold under the FIFA banner but never reached him.

That is what gives his line unusual weight. Wenger rarely intervenes in FIFA governance rows, and when he does it is normally to defend the institution.

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This time he sided with the members who tore the plan apart, without ever naming Infantino.

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