British PM accuses Infantino of ‘betraying’ World Cup with private investor share plan

British prime minister Andy Burnham has launched a fierce attack on FIFA president Gianni Infantino over plans to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, insisting the tournament “is not a commodity”.

FIFA revealed in an official statement on Tuesday that Infantino intends to carve out commercial shares in the World Cup and offer them to private-sector investors in the form of equity stakes.

Under the proposal, Infantino would assume a role described as similar to that of a commissioner, overseeing this new commercial structure within world football’s governing body.

The move has already provoked strong opposition within the game, with UEFA expressing anger at the creation of a new commercial vehicle inside FIFA. That backlash has now spread well beyond football’s traditional decision-making circles and into the political arena.

Burnham, who recently took office as the United Kingdom’s prime minister, aligned himself with critics of the project and delivered one of the most outspoken political responses so far.

In a sharply worded statement, Burnham said the World Cup must not be turned into a financial product to be traded by private capital.

He warned that football’s global showpiece risked being fundamentally undermined if parts of it were sold off to investors.

“Let me be absolutely clear,” Burnham said in a direct message to FIFA and Infantino. “Football does not belong to investors, it belongs to the fans who pack the stands and stand on the touchline week after week, in all weathers.”

Posting on his official account on X, Burnham expanded on his criticism, stressing that the World Cup’s status made it different from ordinary commercial assets.

“The World Cup is not a commodity, it is the greatest competition in world sport, and it has never belonged to anyone to sell,” he wrote.

“Dress it up however you like, but the moment you sell a piece of it, you have betrayed it. Football belongs to the fans, it always has and it always will.”

Infantino has not yet publicly responded to Burnham’s intervention, and FIFA’s statement did not provide detailed financial terms or name any potential investors in the proposed World Cup share scheme.

The announcement has intensified an already strained relationship between FIFA and UEFA, with the European confederation previously critical of what it sees as attempts by FIFA to centralise more commercial power around the global governing body.

Infantino’s World Cup plan forms part of a broader push to reshape FIFA’s revenue model around its flagship competition, which generates the vast majority of the organisation’s income every four-year cycle.

By introducing outside equity, FIFA would be moving closer to structures seen in some domestic leagues and private competitions, but the idea of parcelling off parts of the World Cup has triggered alarm among those who view the tournament as a cultural asset rather than a financial instrument.

Burnham’s comments reflect a growing concern among political leaders that the governance and commercial direction of global football are increasingly being set without sufficient regard for supporters.

While FIFA has framed the new commercial structure as a way of strengthening and modernising the organisation’s finances, its plan now faces resistance not only from within the sport’s institutions but also from governments who see the World Cup as part of the global public sporting heritage.