New Delhi, July 31 -- ZURICH - Fernando Cordeiro, one of FIFA's most senior advisers, resigned from the governing body Wednesday, becoming the second official in a week to publicly quit over a plan to sell equity stakes in the organization to private investors, a proposal that football's most powerful confederations have united to oppose but that FIFA President Gianni Infantino has not withdrawn.

Cordeiro's departure came a day after a second unnamed FIFA official told The Associated Press that the organization had "deceived staff" about the nature and scale of the ownership plan, which would allow sovereign wealth funds and private equity groups to acquire minority stakes in FIFA's commercial operations ahead of the 2026 World Cup cycle...