World Cup must be kept out of private hands: Chelsea manager Alonso

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso said on Friday football must be kept out of private hands and remain “for the people” after FIFA proposed selling a stake in the business operations of the World Cup.

The Spanish World Cup winner backed UEFA’s staunch opposition to the plan to create a commercial subsidiary to run FIFA’s biggest events and allow private investors to acquire stakes in the company.

“I think that football has to be for the people, not in private hands,” Alonso said in Sydney, where the London club are on a pre-season tour.

“And I think that’s the way we love it. We have seen a great World Cup, and some things they (should) stay the same way. So it’s good to defend the interests from other people.”

European football’s governing body UEFA said it was ready to boycott the World Cup over the proposal, saying that the sport “cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return”.

FIFA vowed on Friday to press ahead and conduct an “open and democratic” consultation with stakeholders, arguing that it could raise up to $4.2 billion.

Alonso, a key cog in Spain’s 2010 World Cup-winning team, said “hopefully it won’t happen”.

“I think that it’s the common feeling of football people that we want something that we keep in the hands of everyone, that it’s for all the people. So hopefully it won’t happen,” he said.

“Hopefully, we’ll keep the game as attractive and as authentic as we like it, and that’s why it creates these emotions, these passions we’ve seen in the World Cup, in the Champions League, you see in the Premier League, because it’s for everyone.”

FIFA’s plan would have to be approved by the 38-member FIFA council and the majority of its 211 member associations (MAs).

Chelsea beat Western Sydney Wanderers 6-4 this week in Alonso’s first game in charge. They meet fellow English Premier League side Tottenham in Sydney on Saturday.