Infantino’s £7.5bn Gamble: Uefa and PM Andy Burnham Slam Fifa Plan to Sell the World Cup to Private Investors

Fifa wants to turn the World Cup into an investment product, and English football is not having it. The game’s global governing body intends to expand its ‘football development funding’ to more than $10bn (£7.5bn) and invite third-party investors into a new venture tied to its competitions, according to reports first published by the Financial Times and the Times. Uefa has criticised the plan, and so has Prime Minister Andy Burnham, a lifelong Everton fan who has never hidden his views on football’s runaway finances. The most explosive claim? The Times reports the scheme could personally earn Fifa president Gianni Infantino tens of millions of pounds.

What Fifa’s Private Investment Plan Actually Involves

Fifa says it intends to grow its football development funding beyond $10bn and open a new venture to third-party investment. In plain terms, private capital would be invited into the ecosystem around Fifa’s competitions for the first time, with the World Cup, the most valuable prize in sport, at the centre of the pitch to investors.

The detail that turned a finance story into a scandal came from the Times, which claims the structure could personally earn Gianni Infantino tens of millions of pounds. That figure has not been confirmed by Fifa, but it lands at a sensitive moment for a president whose courting of US President Donald Trump at the 2026 World Cup final had already raised eyebrows across the game.

Why Uefa and Burnham Are Fighting Back

Uefa’s objection is rooted in a familiar fear: once private investors hold a stake in competitions, the demand for returns starts driving sporting decisions. More tournaments, more matches, more strain on an already bursting calendar. European football fought exactly this battle in 2021, when fan fury helped kill the breakaway Super League within 48 hours.

Andy Burnham’s intervention gives the row real political weight in England. As Greater Manchester mayor he backed supporters against club owners; as Prime Minister he leads a country that has just introduced an independent football regulator to protect the game from financial recklessness. A Fifa president reportedly standing to profit personally from privatising the World Cup is precisely the kind of governance failure that legislation was designed to confront, and Burnham’s criticism suggests Downing Street sees it that way too.

What It Means for England and the Premier League

For the Premier League, the immediate concern is the calendar. English clubs already release their internationals for an expanded 48-team World Cup, an enlarged Club World Cup and the Nations League. A Fifa answerable to private investors would have every incentive to add more product, and Premier League squads, the most valuable in world football, would bear the heaviest load. Players’ union FIFPro has spent months warning that workload is reaching breaking point.

There is also a principle at stake that resonates deeply in England. From the fan-led review to the new independent regulator, English football has spent five years building defences against owners treating clubs as pure financial assets. Fifa inviting funds into the World Cup itself runs directly against that direction of travel, and explains why the pushback from both Uefa and the Prime Minister has been so swift and so public.

What Happens Next

Fifa now faces pressure to publish the details: who the investors would be, how the $10bn fund would be governed, and whether its president stands to gain personally. If the Times’ claims are borne out, Infantino would face the most serious governance crisis at Fifa since the 2015 corruption scandal that brought down the Blatter regime.

The dispute also hardens the battle lines between Uefa and Fifa, already strained over the international calendar. With England among the favourites at the 2026 World Cup on the pitch, the fight over who owns and profits from the tournament off the pitch is only just beginning.

FAQ