Andy Burnham has launched a blistering attack on Fifa’s proposal to auction off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
In a statement last night, the Prime Minister slapped down the move to turn the highest levels of Fifa into a company – branding football’s governing body “sell-outs”.
“Let me say this very directly. Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine,” he said.
“The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell.
“Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.
“Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will.”
Alongside the Prime Minister, Uefa also issued a brutal statement last night warning that Fifa had overstepped a fundamental boundary.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” the European body warned.
‘Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will,’ Andy Burnham declared
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Uefa urged every national association, league, club, player, supporter and government to treat the matter with the utmost seriousness, while a senior football figure described the plan as “potentially much worse” than the hated European Super League.
“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not Fifa’s to sell.”
The Football Supporters’ Association has backed Uefa, and delivered a similarly withering verdict last night.
It blasted: “Many supporters came home from the World Cup believing Fifa couldn’t do much more to ruin everything we love about football’s greatest tournament.
Gianni Infantino has come under fire throughout the World Cup over claims of corruption | REUTERS
“Less than two weeks after the final ball was kicked, they’ve shown they can always find a new low.”
The fans’ body pledged to resist what it described as a pattern of decisions prioritising short-term commercial returns over the sport’s long-term health.
The FSA also took direct aim at the Fifa chief entirely, warning: “This cannot become another step in Gianni Infantino’s attempt to reshape football without regard for supporters or the wider game.”
Fifa has already unveiled some details of the hated new plans, as revealed by The Times.
FIFA are planning to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors
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Lamine Yamal poses with the World Cup trophy following Spain’s victory over Argentina | GETTY
Under the plot, the governing body would retain majority ownership of the World Cup “company”, with private investors acquiring between 20 and 30 per cent of the competition.
Sources claimed to The Times that Infantino, 56, would be in line to run it as a commissioner once his final term as Fifa President expires, probably in 2031.
Fifa’s 211 member associations would collectively receive a 20 per cent stake in the tournament.
The governing body has framed the restructuring as a means of dramatically expanding its financial support, pledging to boost funding to more than $10billion (£7.49billion).
That enlarged pot would be distributed across all 211 of its national associations.
A Fifa statement reads: “Fifa is always on the lookout for innovative projects that can boost the development of football around the world and is always open to reviewing proposals submitted to it. We are starting a consultation process.
“As the Fifa president stated on July 18 during a meeting with all Fifa member associations, the priority now is to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that Fifa has” after the Fifa World Cup 2026 success.
“Fifa makes its decisions democratically, and a proposal that Fifa has received and is currently reviewing will soon be presented to the 211 member associations and the Fifa Council, who will be the sole final decision-makers on the matter.”