PARIS, France(AFP)—World football governing body FIFA said Friday it was scrapping a plan to allow private investment in flagship events after fierce backlash from football officials worldwide.

“Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

“As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”

FIFA had floated the plan on Tuesday that it said could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the commercial subsidiary it proposed to run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.

It said that if approved the project could provide each of FIFA’s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027 and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.

But the idea of allowing private investors even a small stake was quickly condemned.

European football’s governing body UEFA said none of its national teams would participate in any FIFA competition “for so long as these proposals remain alive”.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and North American and Caribbean federation (CONCACAF) also condemned the move.

A damaging blow to Infantino himself came with the resignation of senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro, who called the idea “a bad deal for FIFA’s member associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game”.

In a statement Friday evening, Infantino said the project was conceived as a means of strengthening member associations, and that it would only have gone ahead if a majority supported it.

“Having listened carefully to all the views, 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,” he said.