Premier League chief Richard Masters says Fifa 'pressed the self-destruct button' over World Cup sell-off plan
Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, told BBC Sport that Fifa had "pressed the self-destruct button" after Gianni Infantino's proposal to create a new company to manage the commercial and ticketing rights of all Fifa competitions — with 21% to be sold to a private investor — was widely criticised and later abandoned, in remarks made before the start of the new Premier League season, which gets under way on Friday when champions Arsenal host promoted Coventry.
He called the episode "a self-inflicted wound" and said the Premier League backs the English Football Association's decision to withdraw support for Infantino, arguing the governing body needs a president who can unite federations. The proposal, known as Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), was aborted after criticism led by Uefa and threats of a boycott of Fifa competitions from some confederations.
Last week's open letter from Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation accused Fifa of breaking trust "through deception", a letter signed by the presidents and general secretaries of the three regional governing bodies that said the FFE controversy was fundamentally about "the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it". Infantino received backing from senior executives at a meeting in Morocco, and the confederations of Africa, South America and Oceania have also backed him, while a number of organisations including the English FA have withdrawn their support.
Masters said: "This is a problem of Fifa's making," and added: "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." He also said: "I don't think the Fifa should be ever contemplating selling off a stake in the World Cup," and: "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]."
Masters raised concerns about the Folarin Balogun red card incident at the World Cup, recalling that Balogun 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, and that President Donald Trump asked Fifa to review the automatic one-match ban which was subsequently suspended for a year allowing him to play in the last-16 against Belgium, a match the United States lost 4-1. He said: "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."
Turning to the domestic campaign, Masters noted a record nine new permanent managers will start the Premier League season and listed continuity at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta alongside new managers Enzo Maresca at Manchester City, Andoni Iraola at Liverpool and Xabi Alonso at Chelsea. He referenced reported player moves, saying Rodri is set to complete a move from Manchester City to Barcelona following Anthony Gordon's transfer from Newcastle, and added: "Well, if you look at the top 100 players in the world independently ranked, the Premier League has nearly half of them. 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." He concluded: "I'm absolutely confident that what people are going to see is is a fantastic competition."
On disciplinary and financial matters, Masters set out the details of Chelsea's sanction and his rationale for the handling of the case, noting the club 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, that the six-point deduction was "set aside" on appeal, and that Chelsea admitted making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties over transfers between 2011 and 2018 after owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital self-reported 74 breaches when they bought the club in 2022. He said: "In the situation with Chelsea, obviously it's historic. It's very different to PSR cases," and explained: "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 addressed the ongoing Manchester City case, noting the club were charged with more than 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules following a four-year investigation and that an independent commission had yet to publish a ruling more than a year and a half after the disciplinary hearing concluded. He said: "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. "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."
Infantino is hoping to win a fourth term as Fifa president next year, and at present there is no candidate who has put their name forward to stand against him before an 18 November deadline.
