“We’re heading for an almighty clash against UEFA and FIFA” | Kaveh explains

Carvey's here to talk us through it all.FIFA are upping the ante amid all this consternation at the moment.UEFA, though, are not backing down.

Not at all.We're heading for an almighty clash between UEFA and FIFA.It's really shocking how nothing is shocking anymore.I wish I could sit here and say I'm surprised at the developments that we've seen over the last couple of days, but I'm not surprised at all.Basically, what has happened is that we have had a World Cup.where, for the first time, FIFA was in charge of the ticketing operation.

They took it in -house.They had this really controversial dynamic ticketing pricing policy.They made more money than they could ever have dreamed of.They probably made about £10 billion from the World Cup.Every game was almost sold out, even though tickets were outrageous prices.Ordinary football fans were, by and large, totally locked out and priced out of the World Cup.

What has happened?Gianni Infantino, President Trump, their mates, some of the richest people in the world, they've noticed this.They've looked at this and thought, wow, in America, we usually get one Super Bowl every year.Gianni has just delivered 104 Super Bowls.Who knew that you could put on Haiti versus Brazil?Cape Verde, and 70 ,000 people would pay thousands of pounds to be there, and you'd have this extraordinary event and make so much money.

We want a piece of this action.And behind closed doors, while me and you have been outraged by hydration breaks, and Madonna playing at a halftime show, and Tom Cruise making a speech, while we were complaining about that, they were cooking up this plan to set up a company that would run all FIFA's tournaments and it would have profits.investors.And what has happened is, news of it has come out.And let's be honest, my outrage is baked into FIFA's thinking.Your outrage, everybody's outrage.

They would have known.As soon as word gets out about what we're up to, because it has to come out, because all the members have to see the details and vote.As soon as it comes out, all the usual suspects, idiots like Carvey, like Rob Harris at Sky News, Dan Rowan at the BBC, Matthew Syed, Matt Lawton, Martin Ziegler, all of them, they're all going to come out and say we're absolute crooks, we're selling the game down the river.And you know what?That will carry on for a couple of days.And then the circus will move on and they will start complaining and getting their knickers in a twist about something else.

So we're just going to lay low for a couple of days and let them, you know, let them, let them get angry.They'll blow themselves out.In the meantime, we'll carry on with our plan.And our plan is to say to all our member associations, 211 football associations, you've got till the September the 19th.OK, either you back Gianni's plan and we all share in a pot of £7 .5 billion or you say no to the plan and the pot shrinks from £7 .5 billion to about £2 billion.The ball is in your court, get back to us, you've got 53 days.

And Gianni Infantino, being Gianni Infantino, he knows that everyone has a price.And he knows that ever since he's been the FIFA president, funding to the FA's has quadrupled.And that's why they keep voting for him.So he's saying to him, you're going to get even more money.All you have to do is back this plan.Ball's in your court.

Come back to me in 53 minutes.days' time.

So, Plane Devil's Advocate, I dare say there are a few member nations that are thinking, hang on a minute, this looks good for us.211 of them voting on this.So, is there anyone that can afford to say no to this plan and would Enough of them want to say no either.

I think some of the richest FA's in the world certainly can say no.They're in the sort of privileged position of taking the moral high ground and saying there's actually something much more important than money at stake.We're talking about the soul of the game.We're talking about saving the game from Gianni Infantino and his mates.We're talking about having a future where ordinary fans can afford to go to World Cups.This is so important.

This is what needs to be done.There are some people who will think like that.There will be other people who will be thinking, we are just a small football federation.We are nothing.Nobody ever listens to us.The only person who listens to us is Gianni Infantino.

Look, these are some of the smallest federations.

In Macau, Bermuda, they could do with 30 million.

To be fair to Gianni Infantino, he gets on his Qatar -owned private jet.And he flies to these places, and he meets these people.It's not sustainable.And he shakes their hands, and funding to them has quadrupled.It's going to go up and up and up.Now, I don't want to cast aspersions on any of the presidents of these FAs, because I don't know, maybe they also are totally against these plans.

But what Gianni Infantino is banking on is having the support of more than half That's what he needs of the 211 football federations.And he thinks that if he gets that, then he can push ahead with this plan.Where I have doubts is, I think UEFA feels so strongly about this, that even if FIFA and Gianni Infantino get the numbers, and this is proven,through, I think UEFA will still say, we don't care about that.We don't want to be part of this at all.We're leaving.

Maybe quit FIFA.Maybe set up a rival World Cup.Maybe say we're going to boycott World Cups.We're going to boycott the Women's World Cup next year.Because I think this is, I was going to say this is a red line that's been crossed.Lots of other red lines have been crossed as well.

But I think we've got to the stage where enough is enough and people need to say to Gianni Infantino, you cannot carry on down this road because football doesn't belong to you.It doesn't belong to anybody.But if it does belong to anybody, it belongs to the fans and it belongs to the players and everybody who plays the game we love.

Oh, you talk about red lines.Red cards can be suspended, so maybe this can be...I don't know.Look, what's been the kind of biggest reaction?We've heard from lots of people, haven't we?So what's stood out for you?

If you're a football fan, you're a little bit disappointed about the reaction so far.OK.Because, you know, a lot of people have come out, FAs have come out from around the world, and they haven't really come out and, you know, said outright, We hate this.We're not going to let this happen.A lot of FAs, as you can see up there, have basically said, look, we're deeply concerned.We're disappointed because we weren't consulted.

The first time we found out about this is when we read the Times yesterday and when we read the Financial Times.That is not the way things should be done.We are stakeholders in the game.For instance, the chair of the FA is a FIFA vice president.She's a FIFA vice president.How could she not have been consulted?

I mean, it's extraordinary.So we've had a situation where we've had statements from a lot of FAs saying, we're unhappy about the way this was done, but we need to see all the plans before we can do anything.and tell you exactly what we think.We've also had three of the six confederations.So North America, Central America, that's CONCACAF.They've come out and said, disappointed, concerned.

Asia, normally a stronghold for Gianni Infantino.They've come out and said, we're disappointed.We're concerned.Why weren't we consulted?The one confederation who have really stuck their neck out and said, we're not going to take this anymore, is UEFA.And hats off to them and their president, Alexander Shefferin.

Because I go to a lot of major tournaments, and the major tournaments that UEFA run, for all their faults, UEFA are not perfect by a long way.But you go to a European Championship, and then you go to a World Cup.One, the European Championship is a football tournament.held in countries who are crazy about football, who have real fans, real stadiums, where tickets are affordable.And then you go to a World Cup run by FIFA.I've been to them, under Infantino.

Russia 2018, hardly saw a single England fan, 2 ,000 England fans.Qatar 2022, held in the middle of the season, hardly any fans from England.Then I went to America a couple of weeks ago.I came back last week.Every single fan I spoke to, How could you afford to come here?How much did your ticket cost you?

£1 ,000, £2 ,000.I borrowed money.It's all gone on my credit card.My personal opinion is enough is enough.Football needs somebody else to be running FIFA, and that person is no longer Gianni Infantino.

Goodness me, that's quite a statement.Look, can UEFA kind of rely on a block vote then to kind of like boycott this, or could we see a bit of division within UEFA as well?

Well, what's interesting is one of our colleagues, Mark Clyman, at Sky News this afternoon was speaking to the president of the Czech Republic.what at this emergency meeting, I don't think there'll be that many federations who will be speaking with the same sort of sentiments as he's expressing, but who knows?I mean, if somebody said to you...Vicky, you know, we can quadruple your wages.All you have to do is just sign this piece of paper.Yes.

What are you going to say?Are you going to be tempted to say yes, or are you going to say, no, I'm a journalist, I can't be bored?

You know what I mean?

And this is what Gianni Infantino knows.He knows that everyone, including Vicky, has their price.

Interesting.Well, we'll see whether that develops, and we'll see whether this develops.Carvay, thanks, as always.Brilliant stuff from you.