Premier League chief Richard Masters says Fifa self-destructed over World Cup plan

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Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has criticised Fifa president Gianni Infantino's World Cup sell-off plan, saying the organisation has "pressed the self-destruct button" by delivering "a self-inflicted wound".

Infantino is under increasing pressure over his attempt, later abandoned, to create a new company to manage the commercial and ticketing rights of all Fifa competitions, including the World Cups, with 21% to be sold off to a private investment company.

Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) was aborted after widespread criticism from several confederations, led by Uefa, which has threatened a boycott of all Fifa competitions.

Masters backed the English Football Association's withdrawal of support for Infantino - and called for a new candidate for the presidency who could unify football.

"This is a problem of Fifa's making," Masters told BBC Sport.

"This is a self-inflicted wound. The organisation has pressed the self-destruct button, and the consequence of that flow now into the solutions to be that need to be found."

Masters was speaking in a wide-ranging interview before the start of the new Premier League season, which gets under way on Friday when champions Arsenal host promoted Coventry.

In it, Masters also said:

The Premier League backs the FA's decision to withdraw support for Infantino and that a "unity candidate" for Fifa president is needed.

He was worried about the Folarin Balogun red card situation at the World Cup and how Fifa appears to not have a clear red card review.

That he feels the Premier League is entering a new era that will be very hard to predict, and defended the quality of the league.

Chelsea's recent punishment for breaching rules relating to payments to agents was not comparable to points deductions for Profitability and Sustainability Rules.

That he accepts that the outcome of the case against Manchester City for more than 100 alleged breaches of its financial rules is taking longer than expected.

'Unity candidate' needed after Fifa controversy

Last week, Fifa and Infantino were accused of breaking trust "through deception", in an open letter issued by Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation.

The letter, signed by the presidents and general secretaries of the three regional governing bodies, said recent controversy over the FFE proposal was fundamentally about "the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it".

Earlier this month, Infantino received the backing of senior executives in a meeting in Morocco. The confederations of Africa, South America and Oceania have also backed Infantino.

The English Football Association is one of a number of organisations who have withdrawn their support for Infantino - who is scheduled to stand for a fourth term as president in March - a position backed by the Premier League.

"I don't think the Fifa should be ever contemplating selling off a stake in the World Cup," Masters told BBC Sport.

"They're a not-for-profit organisation. They should really be holding that competition in trust for the future of football.

"I think it's a bad idea, and the FA have taken the right position regards to Gianni [Infantino]."

At present there is no candidate who has put their name forward to stand against Infantino, before a 18 November deadline.

While Masters would not be drawn on specific people, he did express a hope for a "unity candidate" to come forward who could bring together all federations to work together to bring positive change at Fifa.

He said: "I think an emerging unity candidate should have on his or her agenda reform of Fifa, and perhaps even reform of the president's role and how it interacts with those things."

Balogun World Cup red card suspension 'a big issue'

The recent World Cup in North America saw European champions Spain beat Argentina in the final to win the tournament.

However, it was a competition not without controversy, with one of the biggest issues surrounding the supension of a red card to USA striker Folarin Balogun.

He was shown a straight red for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic as the co-hosts won their last-32 tie 2-0.

President Donald Trump asked Fifa to review the automatic one-match ban and it was subsequently suspended for a year, allowing him to play in the last-16 game against Belgium. The United States lost that match 4-1.

"We worry that about that particular episode, and of course we don't know what happens," added Masters.

"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, for example. That I think would have would have would have been much a better way to proceed.

"Generally speaking, Fifa is supposed to uphold non-political inference within the game of football. In fact, it's part of its part of its promise that it won't allow it to happen in the rest of the game. So I think it's a big issue, and it needs to be thought through properly."

Premier League seeing a 'changing of the guard'

Things will look a little different in the Premier League this season with a record number of nine new permanent managers starting the campaign.

While defending champions Arsenal have continuity with Mikel Arteta in charge, rivals Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea have new bosses in the dugout in Enzo Maresca, Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso respectively.

However, with Spain midfielder Rodri set to complete a move from Manchester City to Barcelona, following on from Anthony Gordon's move from Newcastle to the Spanish giants, Masters was asked if he had any concerns about the Premier League still being the desired destination for players.

"Well, if you look at the top 100 players in the world independently ranked, the Premier League has nearly half of them," he said.

"There are 13 English players among them and 11 play in the Premier League, so I'm absolutely sure we've got world class talent to put out on the pitch.

"Of course, stars come and go, and the Premier League hasn't really always been about stars. It's been about clubs. It's been about squads. It's been about success.

"Heroes come and go and I think, a bit like the managers, we are seeing a bit of a change of the guard in that regard as well.

"I'm absolutely confident that what people are going to see is is a fantastic competition."

Was Chelsea punishment too lenient?

Last month, Chelsea were fined £10m and given a suspended ban from registering new players for two transfer windows for breaching rules relating to payments to agents between 2009 and 2022.

However, the club have had a six-point deduction, which was suspended until 30 June 2027, "set aside" on appeal.

Chelsea admitted making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties over transfers between 2011 and 2018.

Owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital self-reported 74 breaches of Football Association rules when they purchased the club in 2022.

The punishment received some criticism for being too lenient, particularly when Everton and Nottingham Forest both received points deductions in 2024 for PSR.

"In the situation with Chelsea, obviously it's historic. It's very different to PSR cases," Masters said.

"In the case of Chelsea, the new owners came forward with all the information, and we decided to enter a sanction agreement.

"That sanction agreement was was overseen by a commission as well, and part of the role of the commission is to assure that that sanction is not unduly lenient.

"I think the key difference is, given the evidence base and given the lack of witnesses, none of the people involved with these payments are still at the club, we not able to interview them, the evidence base isn't complete.

"The alternative to entering the sanction agreement was to go down a contested commission route. I'm not sure we'd have been able to bring all of the charges that the club ultimately admitted to, or be successful in getting them, so I don't think there was an easy choice for the board to make.

"We took a decision that the sanction agreement was the best thing for the league, and we're fully aware that not everyone agrees that that was the right course of action, and we just have to accept that."

Masters accepts Man City ruling taking 'longer than expected'

While Chelsea have been punished for their breaches, Manchester City are still waiting to discover their fate after being charged with more than 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules following a four-year investigation.

An independent commission is yet to publish a ruling, more than a year and a half after a disciplinary hearing concluded. City having always denied wrongdoing.

"I do accept it's taking longer than expected, and I understand that people want to find out as soon as possible what's going on, but I simply can't provide that," Masters said.

"Our rules are very clear - we have to follow the process, and there's only one real clear route through, which is to allow that process to reach its natural conclusion."

Reporting originally appeared via BBC News. Read the full source for additional context.