Fifa president Gianni Infantino scraps $20bn World Cup sell-off plan
FIFA is abandoning its controversial plan to sell parts of its assets, including the World Cup, to outside investors.
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An open revolt by officials worldwide and a major rift among top FIFA executives followed the initial announcement of the idea.
The deal, which involved a firm run by New York venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, is dead, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has confirmed.
Speaking to Sky News, the controversial figure said: "Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place.
"Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.
"Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, and particularly in those countries that mostly need our support."
Infantino wanted to raise up to $4.2billion by selling roughly 20% of the organisation.
Speaking on Thursday, the Prime Minister branded the sell-off "outrageous" and reinforced that the beautiful game should not be put up for sale.
Mr Burnham, a keen Everton supporter, told reporters during a visit to Sheffield: “This was an outrageous suggestion.
“The idea that it could even be brought forward shows that, in my view, that the Fifa is the wrong man to lead the organisation.”