Premier League chief Richard Masters attacks abandoned FIFA World Cup rights plan

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has criticised FIFA president Gianni Infantino over an abandoned proposal to place FIFA competition rights in a new company and sell a minority stake to a private investor. BBC Sport reported that the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise would have managed commercial and ticketing rights across FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, with 21% offered to an investment company.

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The proposal was dropped after opposition from football's regional governing bodies. According to the BBC, UEFA led criticism of the plan and threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions. UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation later issued an open letter accusing FIFA and Infantino of breaking trust through deception and questioning the integrity of the game's leadership.

Masters backed the English Football Association's decision to withdraw support for Infantino. In his BBC Sport interview, he described the dispute as a problem created by FIFA and said the governing body had inflicted damage on itself. He argued that FIFA, as a not-for-profit organisation, should hold the World Cup in trust for football rather than contemplate selling a stake in it.

Infantino is scheduled to seek a fourth term as FIFA president in March. The BBC reported that the confederations of Africa, South America and Oceania have backed him, while senior executives also supported him at a meeting in Morocco earlier this month. No opposing candidate has yet declared before the 18 November deadline.

Masters said he hoped a unity candidate would emerge to bring football's federations together and pursue reform at FIFA, including possible changes to the president's role. He did not identify a preferred challenger. His comments place the Premier League alongside the English FA in seeking an alternative to Infantino while divisions among the confederations remain unresolved.

The Premier League chief also raised concerns about FIFA's handling of a red card issued to United States striker Folarin Balogun at the recent World Cup. The automatic one-match ban was suspended for a year after President Donald Trump asked FIFA to review it, allowing Balogun to face Belgium. Masters said FIFA should have a clear red-card review procedure and noted that the organisation is meant to protect football from political interference.