Uefa slams Gianni Infantino insisting it has 'lost confidence' in Fifa leadership over $20bn World Cup sell-off plan

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In a statement released on Saturday, Uefa welcomed Fifa’s decision to withdraw a plan to sell a 20 per cent stake in its competitions.

Insisting “the current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” the statement was a scathing indictment of Infantino's leadership.

It comes as the Prime Minister said on Saturday that Fifa's climbdown was “the right decision”.

It comes after Fifa staged a colossal U-turn overnight, as the governing body abandoned the controversial proposals to sell off its competitions to third-party investors.

"While Uefa welcomed the decision to drop the proposal, it believes Infantino has lost the trust of the football world through his actions, describing the plan as a “shabby, back room, opaque deal,” Uefa's statement read.

“We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account,” Uefa continued.

Read more: FIFA president Gianni Infantino scraps $20bn World Cup sell-off plan

Read more: Infantino's Fifa plan is on the ropes - but don't underestimate his ability to survive, writes Ian Payne

“It is right that, in the coming days and weeks, UEFA will work with its associations and in close co-operation with other confederations to reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again," the statement continued.

“That review should be thorough and fundamental. No option should be off the table. The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.”

Recent days have seen an open revolt by football governing bodies around the world, with fans, officials and heads of state - including Prime Minister Andy Burnham - weighing in on the decision.

A defiant Gianni Infantino insisted plans would go ahead during the early hours of Friday, with mounting pressure and a string of resignations ultimately forcing a U-turn, with many questioning whether his position as Fifa President remains tenable.

Admitting the plan had caused "division" among the footballing ranks, Mr Infantino said in a statement on Saturday that the backlash proved plans were "no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place".

Plans for the sell-off - which increasingly appear to have been ironed out in private, leaving senior Fifa officials in the dark and triggering a string of resignations - caused a major rift among top executives.

The proposed $4.2 billion deal would see third-party investors, led by New York venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, take a 20 per cent stake in the operation.

Kushner’s firm, Thrive Capital, was poised to lead the deal, with JPMorgan advising, before

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Infantino 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."

It comes as Fifa insiders revealed a rift among senior officials, following a string of resignations on Friday including Fifa’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour.

Launching a blistering attack on the Fifa president, Lamour, a highly respected French businessman, described Infantino’s scheme as “the project of one person”.

He went on to highlight the intense levels of secrecy around the proposals, citing a lack of transparency and admitting that most working in Fifa were kept in the dark.

He went on to describe it as “a lie by omission over many months”, adding: “Fifa’s own administration was also deceived. This [lie and] unilateral exercise of power are not trivial."

"They are indicative of a lack of trust, a lack of transparency, a lack of discernment, a lack of good governance. And a serious lack of respect.

"Not only must this project not go ahead, but the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions."

It comes as Uefa, Europe's football governing body, stood firm in opposing the deal after all 55 members unanimously voted to boycott the next World Cup should the plans go ahead.

Without some of the world's top footballing talent from England, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy, broadcasters would likely refuse to pay a premium for television rights - and so too would sponsors.

The move is said to have ultimately gutted the deal's value, with one source telling the New York Post: “They tested the waters and have a clear response."

Thrive, Kushner's venture capital firm, is said to have then begun further talks, with concerns over the investment leading an insider at JP Morgan to reveal: “They don’t believe Kushner will stay the course".

Adding: “They are pulling the plug.”

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.”