Andy Burnham has called on the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to resign over his “outrageous” plans to sell a stake in the World Cup.
Infantino faces growing pressure over his proposals, which triggered a backlash among football bodies and prompted the resignation on Friday of a key adviser.
Asked about the Fifa proposals during a visit to a community centre in Sheffield on Friday, the prime minister said: “My view is strengthening – this was an outrageous suggestion. The idea that it could even be brought forward, in my view, shows that the Fifa [president] is the wrong man to lead the organisation.”
When Burnham was told the Fifa president was sticking to his plans despite a furious backlash from Uefa and other membership bodies, the prime minister said: “Oh wow. Have they actually done that? Oh wow.”
The intervention makes Burnham the first leader of a major country to call on Infantino to step down.
Under Fifa’s plan, the world football body would create an investment vehicle holding commercial rights related to the World Cup and sell a portion of it to investors for $4.2bn (£3.1bn).
Fifa is facing calls for an urgent review of its governance after insisting the planned World Cup sell-off will continue despite the threat of a boycott from all 55 European nations.
Carlos Cordeiro, one of Infantino’s senior advisers, resigned on Thursday over what he called “a bad deal for football”.
“I cannot stand by while Fifa considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” Cordeiro said in his resignation statement. “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 worked for Fifa since 2021 as a senior adviser to Infantino. He also operated as a senior adviser to the White House taskforce on this summer’s World Cup.
Burnham, a lifelong Everton fan, previously said: “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.
“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.”
