FIFA President Gianni Infantino has withdrawn a proposed plan to bring private investment into the World Cup and other major FIFA tournaments. He formally announced the cancellation on Saturday after strong opposition from football bodies in Europe, North and Central America, and Asia. Infantino acknowledged that the proposal had created divisions within football and said it would not be fair to continue it under those circumstances.

The proposal envisaged creating a subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise to manage commercial operations for the World Cup and FIFA’s major tournaments. Outside investors would have been brought in as minority partners in the company. In return, Infantino had promised additional development funding for FIFA’s 211 member associations.

All 55 UEFA member countries threatened to boycott the World Cup, while CONCACAF’s 41 member associations rejected the proposal and the Asian Football Confederation expressed solidarity with UEFA and CONCACAF. Senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned, calling the plan a bad deal for football. FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said many officials had been kept in the dark. FIFA’s presidential election is due in Morocco next March.