Burnham says Infantino is not fit to lead FIFA

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said Gianni Infantino is "the wrong man" to lead FIFA. This comes as more people oppose FIFA’s plan to sell parts of its competitions to private investors.

Burnham criticized the plan, calling it "an outrageous suggestion" and questioning Infantino’s ability to lead.

According to BBC Sport, Burnham stated, "The idea that it could even be brought forward shows that, in my view, he is the wrong man to lead the organisation."

His statements came just hours after the Asian Football Confederation joined UEFA and CONCACAF in rejecting the proposal. They said it could harm the FIFA World Cup's integrity.

The AFC released a statement saying, "The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of global football and derives its strength from the participation of all Confederations and the world’s leading football nations."

They added, "Any proposal that risks undermining the unity and universal character of the competition must be reconsidered."

Pressure on Infantino increased further after Carlos Cordeiro, his senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned over the proposal. Cordeiro called the plan "a bad deal for football" and warned it would "mortgage football’s future."

The united front of UEFA, CONCACAF, and the AFC includes 136 of FIFA’s 211 member associations. This is a large voting bloc that can block the proposal if all members agree with their confederations.

Infantino had said the proposal needs a simple majority of 106 votes to pass through FIFA’s member associations.