{
  "id": 3797667,
  "title": "ESPN reportedly discussed Gianni Infantino plan for U-15 World Cup",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/espn-reportedly-discussed-gianni-infantino-plan-for-u-15-world-cup",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-27T19:00:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/espn-reportedly-discussed-gianni-infantino-190025185.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "ESPN reportedly considered a collaboration with FIFA to host a U-15 World Cup tournament, inspired by the Little League World Series. The plan involved all 211 FIFA nations and featured the event being broadcast and hosted by ESPN at Disney World's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida. However, the proposed tournament, which would have had opening and closing ceremonies at Disney theme parks, did not materialize. FIFA later announced a U-15 World Cup and Festival to be held in Baku this October. Despite criticism against FIFA President Gianni Infantino, particularly regarding plans for a private investment in the World Cup, the discussions with ESPN around the U-15 tournament highlight a potential relationship between the two sides ahead of the men's World Cup rights market. The success of the 2026 World Cup on Fox Sports has made the U-15 World Cup a less attractive business proposition for ESPN compared to hosting and broadcasting the Little League event.",
  "summary": "The scheming of Gianni Infantino to bring private equity into world soccer has brought chaos to FIFA. But his plans go beyond selling a stake in the World Cup and reportedly involve a children’s competition inspired by the Little League World Series with a potential partner in ESPN. ESPN has televised the Little League World…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Al Jazeera",
        "title": "World Cup 2034 hosts Saudi Arabia back Infantino amid FIFA crisis",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/world-cup-2034-hosts-saudi-arabia-back-infantino-amid-fifa-crisis",
        "published": "2026-08-27T13:18:03.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The National Business",
        "title": "Uefa preparing criminal case against Fifa president Gianni Infantino over World Cup sell off plan",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/uefa-preparing-criminal-case-against-fifa-president-gianni-infantino",
        "published": "2026-08-27T15:39:04.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "UEFA preparing criminal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/uefa-preparing-criminal-complaint-against-fifa-president-gianni",
        "published": "2026-08-27T16:48:42.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Tempo.co English",
        "title": "UEFA to Bring Criminal Complaint Against Gianni Infantino",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/uefa-to-bring-criminal-complaint-against-gianni-infantino",
        "published": "2026-08-27T17:19:38.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}