Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called for Gianni Infantino to step down as FIFA president, declaring he no longer has confidence in the world football chief after a storm over a multibillion-dollar commercial deal.

The controversy centres on a now-abandoned proposal to create a new FIFA commercial arm, FIFA Forward Enterprise, and sell a 20 per cent stake in it to private investors. The deal, reportedly designed to raise up to 4.2 billion dollars and valuing the business at around 20 billion dollars, would have handed significant influence over FIFA’s commercial rights, including those linked to the World Cup, to outside interests.

Carney said the way the plan was conceived and advanced revealed deep flaws in FIFA’s governance and in Infantino’s leadership. He stressed that the issue was not only the substance of the proposal but the secrecy surrounding it and the failure to consult key figures inside the organisation.

“I don’t have confidence in Mr Infantino after this point, given what transpired and given the nature of what transpired,” Carney told reporters, arguing that the episode showed a disregard for basic standards of transparency and accountability.

The plan triggered fierce resistance from within global football. UEFA, the powerful European confederation, warned it could boycott FIFA competitions if the project went ahead, while CONCACAF, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, also rejected the initiative. The backlash underscored fears that ceding a slice of FIFA’s commercial engine to private investors could distort the sport’s priorities and weaken the authority of its member associations.

Carney pointed to the resignation of Carlos Cordeiro, a long-time football administrator who had represented FIFA on the White House Task Force for the World Cup, as emblematic of the internal dismay. He noted that Cordeiro, whom he described as a person of “very high integrity” with deep expertise in the relevant areas, had not even been consulted on the proposal despite serving as a close adviser to Infantino.

“This is not how you run any business, let alone something that is a global responsibility like football,” Carney said, adding that failing to inform senior colleagues of such a consequential move “should be fatal” for a leader’s credibility.

Under intense pressure, Infantino ultimately scrapped the plan. But for Carney, the damage is done. The prime minister’s blunt assessment now adds political weight to growing calls within the game for a change at the top of FIFA.