Masters: FIFA 'pressed self-destruct button' on World Cup plan — SkimNews
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- Richard Masters told BBC Sport that FIFA's abandoned World Cup sell-off plan was a "self-inflicted wound" and that "the organisation has pressed the self-destruct button," explicitly backing the English FA's withdrawal of support for Gianni Infantino
- The scrapped Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal would have created a new company managing commercial and ticketing rights for all FIFA competitions, with 21% sold off to a private investment company before being aborted after widespread criticism
- UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation signed an open letter accusing Infantino of breaking trust "through deception," while confederations from Africa, South America and Oceania backed him ahead of his scheduled fourth-term bid in March
- Masters flagged concern over the Folarin Balogun red card reversal, noting that Donald Trump asked FIFA to review the USA striker's automatic one-match ban, which was then suspended for a year — and said FIFA should have a straightforward red card review process
- Chelsea were fined £10m with a suspended two-window transfer registration ban for £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents between 2009 and 2022; Masters defended the sanction as distinct from Profitability and Sustainability Rules points deductions
- Manchester City's case on more than 100 alleged financial rule breaches remains unresolved more than 18 months after a disciplinary hearing concluded, with Masters acknowledging the delay is "longer than expected" but insisting the process must run its course
Why it matters: With no rival candidate declared before the 18 November deadline and Infantino already holding three confederations' backing, the Premier League's most senior English voice publicly breaking with FIFA puts pressure on federations still weighing whether to withdraw support ahead of the March re-election.
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