AFC welcomes FIFA’s decision to scrap World Cup investor plans after opposition from UEFA and CONCACAF.
THE Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has welcomed FIFA’s decision to scrap World Cup investor plans after fierce opposition.
The AFC had joined Europe’s UEFA and the CONCACAF confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean in rejecting the FIFA plans to sell minority stakes in a planned company overseeing its commercial rights and tournament operations to private investors.
That meant that FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, would have no majority from the 211 members and Infantino said early Saturday that the plan was now scrapped.
AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa welcomed the decision and said: “The future of global football must always be shaped through proper consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our game.
“The AFC stands ready to support any initiative that strengthens the unity of the football family, contributes to the continued growth of the game globally and delivers meaningful benefits to all stakeholders.”
Infantino had come under heavy fire as UEFA, which also threatened to boycott FIFA events had the plan taken shape, and CONCACAF criticised a lack of consultation and due process as well.
“It is both irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation with those entrusted with stewarding the game,” UEFA had said.
“This is not merely a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of FIFA’s duty as the custodian of world football.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that Infantino was “the wrong man” to lead FIFA, Infantino’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned and FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour was quoted as saying it was only Infantino’s project.
Infantino has presided over FIFA since 2016 and is seeking a final four-year term next year.
He had vast support from member federations but it remains unclear if that is still the case now.
