English FA, UEFA urged to quit Gianni Infantino’s ‘broken’ FIFA by UK party leader
The Liberal Democrats have called on the English Football Association and UEFA to quit FIFA and set up a new governing body for global football, accusing its president Gianni Infantino of crossing “red line after red line”.
In a video published on his social media channels on Saturday, party leader Sir Ed Davey said “this World Cup has laid bare how utterly broken” FIFA is, citing the examples of the furore over U.S. star Folarin Balogun’s red card and Argentina’s players celebrating their win over England while holding a banner proclaiming Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
“From the incredibly dodgy spectacle of Donald Trump phoning up Gianni Infantino to personally get a U.S. red card overturned, to FIFA’s sluggish inaction over Argentina’s highly provocative Falklands flag stunt, Infantino has crossed red line after red line,” said Davey.
“He has allowed political interference and corporate greed to completely destroy the integrity of our beautiful game. When are we going to finally blow the whistle? It’s time for the FA, UEFA and European governing bodies to step up, lead a coordinated exit and walk away.
“Let’s work with other confederations to build a clean, transparent governing body that actually puts the fans first.”
More commonly known as the Lib Dems, Davey’s party are the third largest in the United Kingdom behind Labour and the Conservatives, and were junior partners in the Conservative-led coalition government that ran the country from 2010 to 2015.
This is not the first time that Davey has attacked FIFA during the World Cup. On July 6, in the aftermath of the Balogun controversy, he tweeted: “Infantino must go.
“No matter where it’s held, the World Cup belongs to the fans — not gangsters like Trump. We need someone who’ll finally kick the corruption out of FIFA.”
Infantino must go.
No matter where it’s held, the World Cup belongs to the fans – not gangsters like Trump.
We need someone who’ll finally kick corruption out of FIFA.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) July 6, 2026
He and others in his party have also strongly criticised FIFA for this World Cup’s record-high ticket prices.
Speaking to Sky News on Saturday, Lib Dem MP and education spokesperson Munira Wilson urged the English FA to work with European confederation UEFA and “other governing bodies around the world to bring about a footballing body that is there for the interests of both fans and football…that has transparency and accountability at its heart”.
Wilson also noted that UEFA and several European federations, including France and Germany but not the English FA, have already strongly criticised FIFA for the Balogun decision.
FIFA, for its part, has strongly defended its conduct in that case, saying the decision to suspend Balogun’s one-game ban was taken by an independent disciplinary committee, and has repeatedly justified its ticket prices by pointing out they are in line with other premium sports events in the U.S. and it uses all profits from the World Cup to grow the game internationally.
And while FIFA and its president have attracted considerable criticism from campaigners, fans groups and politicians around the world for various controversies related to this World Cup and his close relationship with Trump, Infantino is almost certain to be unopposed when he stands for a fourth term as FIFA boss next year. The English FA, for example, has already given him its backing.
The Athletic has contacted the English FA, FIFA and UEFA for comment.