Andy Burnham says Gianni Infantino ‘fallacious man’ to guide FIFA as he slams ‘outrageous’ World Cup plan
The PM said the plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors was an “outrageous idea” as he said Infantino should follow his advisor Carlos Cordeiro in resigning
Andy Burnham has said Gianni Infantino is the “wrong man” to be leading FIFA (Image: Annabel Lee-Ellis/POOL PA via AP)
Andy Burnham has said Gianni Infantino is the “wrong man” to be leading FIFA following the row over proposals to sell a stake in the World Cup.
The PM said the plan was an “outrageous idea” after Fifa appeared to double down, with Infantino giving football associations until September 19 to back his plan. The governing body says it has launched a consultation over setting up a separate $20billion (£14.9billion) company to run its competitions, which will be called FIFA Forward Enterprise.
Infantino’s authority was dealt another blow after Carlos Cordeiro, one of his senior advisers, resigned with immediate effect in protest at proposals to sell a stake in the World Cup.
And after being told of the development the PM said his opposition to the plans was “strengthening” saying the idea should “never even have been brought forward”. Asked if he thought Infantino should follow his advisor out of the door Burnham added he was “the wrong man to lead the organisation”.
Burnham’s comments make him the first leader of a major country to call Infantino’s position into question. European FAs have already threatened to boycott future Fifa tournaments while US Soccer chief Cordeiro criticised “a bad deal for football” and pointed out that the global governing body already sits on huge amounts of debt-free reserves.
He said: “I cannot stand by while Fifa considers selling a stake in the World Cup. I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally. It is 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.”
Cordeiro has worked for Fifa since 2021 as senior adviser to Infantino and also operated as a senior adviser to the White House taskforce on this summer’s World Cup. In resigning he said Fifa “already has the financial capacity to provide [additional financial] support from existing resources”. He added that Fifa would be “mortgaging football’s future without any compelling justification” if it sold off a permanent stake.
Earlier this week Uefa, European football’s governing body, said: “The World Cup is not for sale,” as 55 nations threatened to boycott Fifa competitions. They added: “No Uefa national teams will participate in any Fifa competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that Fifa will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.”
The FA backed the stance, saying: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our European colleagues and fully support the collective view. We oppose Fifa’s plans – the Fifa World Cup belongs to football and always will, while Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Football belongs to the fans, not billionaire investors. Enough is enough.”
The Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf have also voiced their opposition to the plans. Fifa had attempted to double down on its position stating “we will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA [member association] has the ability to express its vote based on facts”.
A statement from the Asian federation said: ‘“The AFC calls upon Fifa to undertake an urgent review of its governance and decision-making framework to ensure that proposals of global significance are developed through proper consultation, meaningful engagement and appropriate oversight by Fifa’s statutory bodies.”
