Former FA chief demands ‘root and branch’ FIFA reform after World Cup sell-off U-turn and Gianni Infantino 'overplayed his hand'

Former Football Association chief executive Mark Palios has claimed Gianni Infantino has “overplayed his hand” after the Fifa president abandoned controversial plans to sell off part of the World Cup.

Speaking to GB News, the Tranmere Rovers chairman said Infantino's dramatic U-turn had left him facing a battle for his political survival within world football.

Despite backing down on plans to sell a £3.1billion stake in the World Cup to private investors, Uefa has announced it has lost confidence in the FIFA president in a blistering statement.

“I think Mr Infantino has overplayed his hand personally,” Mr Palios said.

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“As a consequence, I think he is now facing the real prospect that he will either be replaced by virtue of a vote of no confidence or face a genuine challenger when he stands for election in the spring of 2027.”

The former FA boss said the sell-off plan was now “dead in the water” after intervention from a unified front of football's major confederations.

To that end, he praised Uefa for holding its member associations together.

“The fact that UEFA kept it all together meant it was easier for everyone else,” Mr Palios said.

“Once you got Uefa doing this, then Concacaf came in, and then Asia came in as well. Then it was dead in the water.”

The Tranmere Rovers chairman added the coordinated response had made it significantly easier for national associations to support the threatened boycott.

“It was easier when everybody's doing it rather than if you're standing out alone,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Palios argued Fifa now needed sweeping reform regardless of whether Infantino survived.

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“I think the game has outgrown the current construct that is Fifa,” he said.

“Its governance is very poor, and that's the first thing that needs to be looked at.”

He said any future challenger should unite FIFA's member associations while committing to “root and branch reform”.

Mr Palios warned previous promises of greater transparency under Mr Infantino had failed to materialise.

“The candidate has to stand on a platform of a real root and branch look at FIFA,” he said,

“We have to have a genuine candidacy and a genuine desire for root and branch reform.”

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