FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom has told staff that the abandoned plan to sell private stakes in the organisation's competitions was "a sad and reproachable series of events," according to an internal memo reported by BBC Sport.

The memo, sent in the past week, is the first time a figure from inside FIFA's own leadership has publicly criticised the proposal that would have seen up to $4.2 billion raised by selling roughly 20% of a new unit responsible for running FIFA events, including the World Cup. Grafstrom described the episode as "thankfully concluded with the project permanently abandoned" and urged colleagues to keep their "professionalism, sense of perspective and composure."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino scrapped the plan in late July after a backlash from member associations and regional confederations — the six continental bodies, such as UEFA in Europe, that govern football across the world's regions. UEFA had held an emergency meeting with its members over the proposal, which centred on selling stakes in a commercial subsidiary valued at around $20 billion. The resistance was strong enough to force a retreat within days.

What gives Grafstrom's words weight is his proximity to Infantino. The Swede became FIFA's chief of staff after Infantino was elected president in 2016, and was elevated to secretary general — one of the most powerful positions in the organisation — in 2024. When someone that close to the president calls the events of the past week "difficult to comprehend and accept," it signals just how disruptive the episode was inside FIFA's own walls.

In the memo, Grafstrom urged staff to remain focused on serving football and FIFA's 211 member associations. The message is clear: the plan is dead, and the priority now is mending fences. FIFA was approached for further comment on the matter.

For football fans, the episode is less about private equity than about trust. The World Cup is the one tournament that belongs to every nation in the game — 211 member associations, from superpowers to minnows, share in its prestige and its revenue. The idea of selling a slice of that to outside investors struck many as crossing a line. The fact that it was withdrawn so quickly tells you the pressure was real, and the pushback was not going away.

The 2026 World Cup, to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is now less than a year away. It is the first edition to feature 48 teams — an expanded format that means more matches, more countries involved, and more money flowing through FIFA's coffers. That expansion was always going to raise questions about how football's biggest competition is funded and governed. The failed investment plan will not be the last time those questions surface.

For now, the project is buried. Grafstrom's memo is the headstone.