UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke exclusively to GIVEMESPORT, where he was asked about FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Prime Minister, why do you believe Infantino is not the right person to lead FIFA?

“Mainly because of the direction FIFA has taken under his leadership, and the plan to ‘sell’ the World Cup to investors. It has reinforced my feeling that he is not taking FIFA in the right direction, and as a result, he has failed to put the sport on the right path.

“Actually, this feeling has been building for some time. When both UEFA and CONCACAF have lost confidence in him, that situation is clearly unsustainable. It shows that a significant part of the global football community is sending a very clear message: this is unacceptable.”

I think most football fans would agree with your view. You mentioned that this feeling has existed for a long time. Has this latest controversy become the ‘final straw’ for you?

“Yes, I think it probably has. I had concerns about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, both on and off the pitch. To be honest, something never quite felt right.

“But after all the previous controversies surrounding FIFA, I was willing to give his leadership a chance. I believed in giving him the benefit of the doubt, and I did exactly that — until now.”

However, FIFA insists that they are not ‘selling’ football, and that the proposal was never intended to mean that. As both a football fan and a Prime Minister, what is your position?

“My position is that football must be protected from being completely consumed by commercial interests.

“Ultimately, football is about the joy of the game itself. The power of football should be used to reinvest as many resources as possible back into grassroots football.

“But those at the top seem to have forgotten that. They are treating football as just another tool for making money.

“If football evolves into that kind of environment, where profit is the only thing that matters, then it will destroy everything that we have loved about the sport since childhood.”