At the threshold of a new Premier League season, Richard Masters has stepped forward to name what many in football's corridors have long sensed but rarely said aloud: that Fifa, under Gianni Infantino, has become an institution at war with its own purpose. The abandoned attempt to sell a fifth of the World Cup's commercial soul to private investors has cracked open a fault line between football's governing body and the confederations that sustain it, raising the oldest of institutional questions — who holds power, and in whose name. With a presidential election approaching and no challenger ye
Premier League chief blasts Fifa's 'self-destructed' World Cup privatization plan
The organisation has pressed the self-destruct button
Mark
Why does it matter that Fifa tried to sell off World Cup rights? Isn't that just a business decision?
Mimi
It matters because Fifa is supposed to be a not-for-profit organization holding the World Cup in trust for the future of football. Selling 21 percent to private investors fundamentally changes who benefits from the competition and who controls it. It's about institutional purpose.
Mark
But Infantino still has backing from Africa, South America, and Oceania. How does Masters expect a unity candidate to emerge if the confederation votes are already split?
Mimi
That's the real puzzle. A unity candidate would have to be someone new—someone without baggage from the Infantino camp or the opposition—who could convince all the confederations that reform is possible. Right now there's no such figure. The deadline is November 18.
Mark
Masters seemed concerned about the Balogun red card situation. Why is that a governance issue and not just a controversial call?
Mimi
Because Trump intervened and got the suspension overturned. That's political pressure on a sporting decision. Fifa claims to keep politics out of football, but it failed to do that. Masters is saying Fifa needs a clear, transparent review process so politics can't creep in.
Mark
On Chelsea—Masters said the evidence base was incomplete because the people involved were gone. Doesn't that sound like a reason to punish them more, not less?
Mimi
It's the opposite. Without witnesses or complete evidence, the Premier League couldn't prove all the charges in a contested hearing. A sanction agreement let Chelsea admit to what they did and accept a penalty without a trial that might have failed. It's pragmatic, but it looks lenient.
Mark
How long can Manchester City's case really take?
Mimi
Masters won't say. The hearing ended over eighteen months ago. He's just repeating that the process has to reach its natural conclusion. At this point, the delay itself is becoming part of the story.
O Pulso
- Infantino's plan to privatize 21% of World Cup rights collapsed under a coordinated rebellion from Uefa, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation, who accused Fifa of governing through deception.
- The English FA withdrew its backing for Infantino's reelection, and the Premier League has now aligned itself with that position, deepening the fracture between European football and Fifa's leadership.
- No rival candidate has yet declared ahead of the November deadline, leaving the call for a 'unity candidate' as an aspiration without a face — a reform agenda searching for a reformer.
- Political interference in the Balogun red card reversal, reportedly linked to President Trump, has added a second front to the governance crisis, exposing Fifa's stated neutrality as fragile.
- Domestically, the Chelsea sanction and the still-unresolved Manchester City case continue to test the Premier League's credibility as a self-regulating body, even as Masters insists the processes are sound.
At the threshold of a new Premier League season, Richard Masters has stepped forward to name what many in football's corridors have long sensed but rarely said aloud: that Fifa, under Gianni Infantino, has become an institution at war with its own purpose. The abandoned attempt to sell a fifth of the World Cup's commercial soul to private investors has cracked open a fault line between football's governing body and the confederations that sustain it, raising the oldest of institutional questions — who holds power, and in whose name. With a presidential election approaching and no challenger yet declared, the sport finds itself in that uneasy interval between the collapse of one order and the emergence of another.
Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, used a pre-season interview with BBC Sport to deliver a pointed verdict on the state of global football governance. His target was Fifa president Gianni Infantino, whose proposal to sell 21 percent of the World Cup's commercial and ticketing rights to private investors had just been abandoned following fierce opposition from Uefa and other confederations. Masters called it a self-inflicted catastrophe — an institution pressing its own self-destruct button.
The fallout has been institutional as well as political. Uefa, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation issued a joint letter accusing Fifa of breaking trust through deception. The English FA withdrew its support for Infantino's reelection, a position Masters endorsed without hesitation. His reasoning was principled: the World Cup belongs to football's future, not to private investors, and a not-for-profit governing body has no business treating it as an asset to be carved up.
Yet the path forward is unclear. Africa, South America, and Oceania have backed Infantino for a fourth term, and with the November candidate deadline approaching, no challenger has emerged. Masters called for a unity candidate capable of reforming Fifa from within — a figure who might even reshape the presidency itself — but acknowledged that no such person has yet appeared.
Masters also raised concerns about political interference at the recent World Cup, where Folarin Balogun's red card suspension was overturned following reported intervention by President Trump. Balogun played in the next match; the United States lost 4-1 to Belgium. Masters questioned why Fifa lacked a formal review process for red cards and described the political dimension as a serious problem for an organization that claims to keep sport and politics separate.
On domestic matters, Masters defended the Premier League's handling of Chelsea's secret agent payments case, arguing that the club's self-reporting, the departure of those involved, and the incomplete evidence base made a negotiated sanction the pragmatic choice. The Manchester City case — over 100 alleged financial rule breaches, with a ruling still pending eighteen months after the hearing concluded — he described as frustrating but beyond the league's power to accelerate. As nine new permanent managers begin the season and nearly half the world's top 100 players compete in the league, Masters expressed confidence that English football's appeal, built on clubs rather than individual stars, remains intact.
Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League, sat down with BBC Sport this week to discuss a crisis unfolding at the highest levels of global football governance. His message was blunt: Fifa, under president Gianni Infantino, had engineered its own catastrophe.
The immediate trigger was Infantino's now-abandoned scheme to create a new company called Fifa Forward Enterprise, which would have handed over 21 percent of the commercial and ticketing rights to all Fifa competitions—including the World Cup—to private investors. The proposal collapsed under a wave of opposition from football's regional confederations, most forcefully from Uefa, which threatened to boycott Fifa events entirely. Masters called the entire episode "a self-inflicted wound" and said the organization had "pressed the self-destruct button." He was speaking just before the start of the new Premier League season, with Arsenal hosting promoted Coventry on Friday.
The fallout has been severe. Uefa, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation issued a joint letter accusing Fifa and Infantino of breaking trust "through deception," framing the controversy as fundamentally about institutional integrity. The English Football Association withdrew its support for Infantino's reelection bid, a position the Premier League has now backed. Masters was unequivocal on the principle: "I don't think Fifa should be ever contemplating selling off a stake in the World Cup. They're a not-for-profit organisation. They should really be holding that competition in trust for the future of football."
Yet the political picture remains fractured. While Uefa and its allies have turned against Infantino, the confederations of Africa, South America, and Oceania have publicly backed him. He is scheduled to run for a fourth term as president in March, with an November 18 deadline for rival candidates to declare. So far, no one has stepped forward. Masters called for a "unity candidate"—someone with no name yet attached—who could reform Fifa from within and potentially reshape the president's role itself. The hope, he suggested, is that such a figure could bring the fractured football world back together.
Beyond the Fifa crisis, Masters addressed other governance tensions. He expressed concern about the Folarin Balogun red card incident at the recent World Cup, where the American striker was sent off for a foul on a Bosnia-Herzegovina defender, then had his automatic one-match suspension overturned after President Donald Trump intervened. Balogun played in the next match, which the United States lost 4-1 to Belgium. Masters said he didn't understand why Fifa lacked a straightforward red card review process like the Premier League's, and he flagged the political interference as "a big issue" that contradicts Fifa's stated commitment to keeping politics out of football.
On the domestic front, Masters defended the Premier League's handling of Chelsea's punishment for secret agent payments between 2009 and 2022. The club was fined £10 million and given a suspended registration ban, but had a six-point deduction set aside on appeal. Some observers called the sanction too lenient compared to points deductions handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest for financial rule breaches. Masters explained that Chelsea's case was fundamentally different—the new owners self-reported the violations, many of the people involved were no longer at the club, and the evidence base was incomplete. A contested commission hearing might have resulted in fewer charges being proven, he argued, so a sanction agreement was the pragmatic choice. "I'm fully aware that not everyone agrees that that was the right course of action, and we just have to accept that," he said.
The Manchester City case, by contrast, remains in limbo. The club faces more than 100 alleged breaches of financial rules following a four-year investigation. An independent commission concluded its hearing more than eighteen months ago but has not yet issued a ruling. Masters acknowledged the delay was frustrating but said the Premier League had no choice but to let the process reach its conclusion. He also pushed back gently on concerns that the Premier League's appeal is fading. Nearly half of the world's top 100 players, he noted, play in the league, and while stars like Rodri have departed for Barcelona, the competition remains built on squads and clubs rather than individual names. With nine new permanent managers starting the season, he said, the league was entering a new era—one he was confident would remain "a fantastic competition."
Citações Notáveis
I don't think Fifa should be ever contemplating selling off a stake in the World Cup. They're a not-for-profit organisation. They should really be holding that competition in trust for the future of football.— Richard Masters, Premier League chief executive
I don't understand why Fifa doesn't have a very straightforward red card review process in place, like we do in the Premier League. That I think would have been much a better way to proceed.— Richard Masters, on the Balogun incident
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