Many of us enjoyed watching the recent football World Cup and England’s great run helped to make it memorable. There were concerns raised during the tournament, and what has happened since has brought those concerns back into sharp focus.
It was outrageous what FIFA President Gianni Infantino suddenly proposed last week, to sell off a share of the World Cup, a commercialisation that would have made the actual football come a very poor second. It wasn’t just the proposals; it was the way he had gone about it with no consultation and arguably coming across as bribing smaller nations with a $30 million payment.
The warning signs were all there that all was not right with FIFA under Infantino. There was the ridiculous awarding of a ‘Fifa Peace Prize’ to Donald Trump, the overturning of a match suspension of the USA’s star player at Trump’s request, ordinary match tickets costing thousands of dollars, and plans to yet further increase the number of teams from 48 to 64, when the jury was still out on whether the increase from 32 to 48 was right.
It is not often that all of Europe speaks with one voice, but I’m pleased to see that all 55 members of UEFA united in opposing these proposals, leading to them being dropped. But the damage is done and Infantino needs to go, so I welcome the English and Welsh FAs withdrawing support for Infantino. It is a shame that so much politics has been brought into world football, but it has got me thinking about spectator sport and access for fan viewing, both on terrestrial TV and in person.
We have seen a chipping away of free-to-view sports, including this year when all three European club football finals were not available without extra payment. A line needs to be drawn in the sand and the Ofcom Code strengthened to ensure both the current list of sporting events included continued to be protected, and adding more of our cherished sporting events. Such a move would be likely to have cross-party political support, so let’s make it happen.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
5th August 2026
