"It has destroyed the beautiful game"... Britain calls on Europe to break away from FIFA

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A party leader calls for the federation to be dissolved and accuses Infantino of crossing red lines.

Britain's Liberal Democrats have called on the English Football Association and European football's governing body UEFA to withdraw from the International Federation of Association Football FIFA, accusing the game's governing body of "destroying the integrity of the beautiful game".

Sir Ed Davey, the party's leader, told the British Broadcasting Corporation "BBC" that FIFA no longer serves football or its fans. He wants it dissolved permanently and rebuilt from scratch.

The demand followed a run of controversial FIFA decisions during the World Cup. Most striking was the surprise move to lift the ban on American striker Folarin Balogun from a match, after US President Donald Trump intervened directly.

UEFA called that decision "crossing red lines", branding it "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustified" and laying bare the rising tension between the two bodies during the tournament.

The criticism didn't stop there. FIFA faces further accusations over the rise in World Cup ticket prices under its dynamic pricing system, plus a row over the water breaks, which estimates suggest could generate up to 250 million dollars, around 189 million pounds sterling, in additional advertising revenue.

Sharp criticism also came over FIFA's handling of Somali referee Omar Artan, who was barred from entering the United States to officiate matches at the tournament.

Taken together, the Liberal Democrats argue, these examples prove FIFA has gone too far. The BBC contacted all three parties, FIFA, UEFA and the FA, for comment.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the pricing policy, insisting ticket prices sit in line with those for other major sporting events in the United States.

FIFA counts 211 national associations among its membership and organises the World Cup. The FA is one of those members, so a withdrawal would automatically strip it of any place in the tournament.

Football associations must work together "to build an honest and transparent governing body that prioritises the fans", Sir Ed Davey said, adding: "The only way forward is for the FA, alongside other European bodies, to lead a coordinated withdrawal from FIFA."

He accused Infantino of having "crossed red lines time and again", and of having "allowed corporate greed to exploit fans however it wished, destroying the integrity of the beautiful game".

His conclusion was blunt: "The time has come for UEFA to step forward and withdraw from FIFA, and to begin working with the other continental confederations to build a clean and transparent governing body that puts fans first."