Fifa executive joins Burham in questioning Infantino

What the report says

Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s plan to create a commercial arm and sell minority stakes in its major competitions faced fresh opposition on Friday, BBC Sport reported. The criticism came from inside Fifa as well as from regional football bodies, adding to a widening dispute over the future of the governing body’s business model and governance.

Fifa chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, in a statement seen by the BBC and released through the Associated Press, said the project appeared to be driven by one person and warned football leaders to ask whether it was the right direction. He argued that Fifa’s role is to serve the game and said the current situation was making it harder for staff to do that. His comments followed the resignation of Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, who said the proposal would be a bad deal for football.

The Asian Football Confederation also announced its opposition, saying the plan lacked broad consensus and could damage the unity and universal character of the World Cup. That followed earlier criticism from Uefa and Concacaf, both of which had already rejected the idea. BBC Sport said the proposal would need approval from Fifa members, and the growing resistance suggests the chances of passage are weakening.

According to the BBC, the plan involves setting up a new subsidiary, Fifa Forward Enterprise, to take minority investments from outside backers. The debate matters because it concerns control over football’s biggest tournaments, including the World Cup, and raises questions about commercialisation, oversight and whether the sport’s global institutions were properly consulted.