--- title: "Senior FIFA officials distance themselves from Infantino’s World Cup funding plan" description: "Most outlets led with the fact that senior FIFA officials, including Arsene Wenger and Mattias Grafstrom, distanced themselves from Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in future World Cup events. The News International and Dawn both highlighted Wenger’s explicit statement that scrapping the plan was “absolutely necessary.” Arab News Pakistan framed the move as a distancing from Infantino’s “World Cup sell-off plan,” while The News International and Dawn included Wenger’s reasoning for the decision. No outlets provided additional context or alternative perspectives beyond the officials’ own statements." url: https://harzaviya.com/stories/1779-wenger-says-scrapping-infantino-s-world-cup-plan-was site: HarZaviya language: en --- # Senior FIFA officials distance themselves from Infantino’s World Cup funding plan sports · latest filing 4 Aug 2026, 5:41 PM PKT · 4 Aug 2026 · 3 articles from 3 outlets **HarZaviya summary** — how 3 outlets covered this, generated automatically from their headlines and excerpts: > Most outlets led with the fact that senior FIFA officials, including Arsene Wenger and Mattias Grafstrom, distanced themselves from Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in future World Cup events. The News International and Dawn both highlighted Wenger’s explicit statement that scrapping the plan was “absolutely necessary.” Arab News Pakistan framed the move as a distancing from Infantino’s “World Cup sell-off plan,” while The News International and Dawn included Wenger’s reasoning for the decision. No outlets provided additional context or alternative perspectives beyond the officials’ own statements. ## Same story from 3 outlets Each outlet's own headline, most recent first — read any at its source. - **Dawn** — [Wenger says scrapping Infantino's World Cup plan was 'absolutely necessary'](https://www.dawn.com/news/2020564/wenger-says-scrapping-infantinos-world-cup-plan-was-absolutely-necessary) · 4 Aug 2026, 5:41 PM PKT > Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the decision to scrap FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s controversial plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup was “absolutely necessary and beyond question”. Wenger works as FIFA’s chief of global football development — he was appointed in 2019 — and the Frenchman became the latest high-profile figure to criticise Infantino’s scheme on Tuesday. Infanti... - **The News International** — [Arsene Wenger breaks silence on why FIFA scrapped private funding plan](https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1411213-arsene-wenger-breaks-silence-on-why-fifa-scrapped-private-funding-plan) · 4 Aug 2026, 5:11 PM PKT · 81% identical wording to the newest filing > FIFA’s chief of global football development Arsene Wenger broke his silence to publicly disassociate himself from Gianni Infantino’s private equity stating that the decision to scrap it was “absolutely necessary and beyond question.”FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed... - **Arab News Pakistan** — [Top FIFA officials Wenger and Grafstrom distance themselves from Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan](https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2653353/sport) · 4 Aug 2026, 5:08 AM PKT · 79% identical wording to the newest filing > GENEVA: Two senior FIFA executives — coaching great Arsene Wenger and CEO-like secretary general Mattias Grafstrom — distanced themselves Tuesday from their boss Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors. ## Part of a bigger story Other stories whose coverage resembles this one, nearest first. "% related" compares whole stories, not single articles — see [what the percentages mean](https://harzaviya.com/methodology). - [Wales withdraws support for Infantino’s FIFA re-election bid](https://harzaviya.com/stories/779-fifa-proposes-selling-stakes-in-world-cup-subsidiary-faces) · 4 Aug 2026 · 13 outlets · 8 developments · 83% related - [FIFA Apologizes for World Cup Privatization Plan and Reaffirms Support for Infantino](https://harzaviya.com/stories/1999-fifa-reaffirm-full-support-for-infantino-apologise-for-world) · 6 Aug 2026 · 5 outlets · 78% related - [FIFA President Gianni Infantino faces leadership and personal allegations](https://harzaviya.com/stories/2358-fifa-controversy) · 9 Aug 2026 · 8 outlets · 75% related - [Three football confederations rebuke Infantino, say sport ‘belongs to no individual’](https://harzaviya.com/stories/2555-embattled-infantino-target-of-letter-from-three) · 11 Aug 2026 · 6 outlets · 2 developments · 71% related - [FIFA President Infantino holds emergency meeting in Morocco amid stake sale controversy](https://harzaviya.com/stories/1910-embattled-fifa-chief-infantino-holds-emergency-talks) · 5 Aug 2026 · 4 outlets · 71% related 3 articles from 3 outlets, 4 Aug 2026. 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