Women's football shouldn't be penalised by Uefa boycott - Nandy

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says women's footballers should not be "penalised" by a potential boycott of next month's Under-20 Women's World Cup, as hosts Poland say they have received no notice of any withdrawals from European teams.

European governing body Uefa and its 55 members have threatened to boycott Fifa competitions over its president Gianni Infantino's plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup.

Poland are due to host the tournament from 5-27 September, but are not the only Uefa nation involved - with England, Italy, Spain, Portugal and France all due to take part.

The Polish Football Association (PZPN) told BBC Sport on Tuesday that it had so far "not received any information regarding the possible withdrawal of any participating team from the tournament".

It added: "We believe that the current situation will be resolved swiftly, allowing young players from across the world to compete in Poland.

"Our priority remains to ensure the best possible conditions for the competition and for all participating teams. For many of these young players, this tournament represents an important milestone in their sporting careers, and we remain fully focused on delivering an event worthy of their talent and commitment."

Last week, the French Football Federation (FFF) said it intended to compete at the U20 World Cup while the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) also told BBC Sport that "so far, the Under-20 team is complying with the planned programme", including a friendly fixture against England later this week.

England's Football Association has not confirmed whether it will field a team for the World Cup. However, as things stand, coach Lydia Bedford's Young Lionesses squad are continuing preparations for the tournament.

Nandy told the BBC that she wants to see Infantino resign over his Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, under which stakes in the World Cup and other competitions would be sold to private investors.

"We support the [English] FA in saying that football belongs to its fans, enough is enough, and it is time for a change at Fifa," Nandy said.

"I think [Infantino] should go, the time is up."

But she added she would not support a boycott of the U20 World Cup.

"I am not generally in favour of sporting boycotts full stop, because I think they divide people from one another, I think they unfairly penalise athletes and competitors who are not responsible for the reason that these boycotts take place," she said.

"What I would like to see actually is football coming together, resolving this, a change of leadership, a change of direction and a very clear message that football belongs to its fans and it will not have women and girls penalised when the women's game is going from strength to strength. And our Lionesses are leading the world in that."

Former Fifa Council member Moya Dodd told BBC 5 Live she believes safeguarding the entire football pyramid is important.

"Women's football is at a crucial stage of professionalisation - creating full-time jobs for players... that's transformational," she said.

"But if you don't give room for the leagues and clubs to grow - if they are constantly being interrupted to make way for these increasing Fifa competitions which are commercially lucrative - then growth is hampered.

"That's why proper governance needs to have all affected parties at the decision table - at the moment you have got a very narrow group of interests who are represented at the Fifa Congress."

Meanwhile, Jane Purdon, an independent expert on football governance, told BBC Sport she had concerns about "the amount of power [Fifa's] president has been allowed to have".

She added: "Let's not forget this is a man who when he assumed office in 2016 took an EasyJet flight to his first Fifa meeting in Wales and said 'we're normal people, we need to behave and look like normal people' - so what's happened to that guy?"

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