Andy Burnham renews call for FIFA leadership change after World Cup investment plan collapses

• U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says football cannot simply “move on” following Gianni Infantino’s failed World Cup investment proposal.
• Burnham has repeated his belief that Infantino is no longer the right person to lead FIFA after widespread opposition forced the governing body to abandon the plan.
• UEFA has warned that no option should be ruled out as pressure grows ahead of FIFA’s presidential election next March.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has renewed his call for change at the top of FIFA, insisting football cannot simply “move on and forget” Gianni Infantino’s attempt to sell stakes linked to future FIFA World Cups to private investors.

Infantino abandoned the proposal on Friday after facing overwhelming opposition from football’s continental confederations, ending a plan that would have transferred commercial interests in FIFA’s flagship competitions to outside investors through a newly created subsidiary.

The collapse of the proposal has not eased criticism of FIFA’s leadership.

UEFA said on Saturday it had lost confidence in FIFA’s direction under Infantino, while Concacaf accused the governing body of losing sight of the interests of football.

Burnham, who became the first head of government to publicly call for Infantino to step down before FIFA withdrew the proposal, said the issue should not be forgotten.

“I do not believe that he is the right man to lead football forward on the world stage,” Burnham said during a visit to Devon.

“The plan that was put forward was offensive to many people, football people, around the world, and it can’t be the case that we just move on and forget that. It wasn’t acceptable.”

Infantino’s proposal unravelled after UEFA’s 55 member associations voted to boycott all FIFA competitions while the investment plan remained active.

Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation also announced their opposition, leaving FIFA isolated as resistance spread across the international game.

The proposal would have raised billions of dollars through the sale of minority interests linked to future FIFA World Cups, with the governing body arguing the additional revenue would increase development funding for its member associations.

Instead, it triggered one of the biggest political disputes in modern football governance.

Although FIFA has withdrawn the proposal, UEFA made clear that the governing body intends to pursue further safeguards.

European football’s governing body said it would continue working with other confederations to ensure a similar proposal could not be introduced again.

“No option should be off the table,” UEFA said.

Infantino has continued to receive support from some national associations, including 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, but criticism has intensified following the collapse of the proposal.

Attention will now turn to FIFA’s next presidential election.

The vote is scheduled to take place in Rabat, Morocco, next March, with prospective candidates required to declare their intention to stand before the Nov. 18 deadline.