On Monday, the continental governing bodies of the sport in Europe (UEFA), Asia (AFC), and Central America (CONMEBOL) issued an open letter to the world body, lambasting the body for repeatedly breaking trust over its proposed World Cup stake sale. The troubles continue to mount for FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino.
The latest letter has been signed by the presidents and the general secretaries of the above-mentioned bodies, and it was made clear that Infantino tried to tamper with the “integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it”.
Key Factors
The FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal would have created a new company to manage the commercial and ticketing rights of all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, and would have sold a 21 per cent stake to a private investment company. “FIFA’s recent letter to its Vice-Presidents and 211 Member Associations acknowledges that mistakes were made in the process. However, the constant scrutiny from UEFA, AFC and CONMEBOL led FIFA to scrap the plan. The latest joint statement from the bodies did not name Infantino, but it was clear the jabs were directed at him, as trust between FIFA and the continental governing bodies has broken down. “Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding — or demanding — power to be held. “Football’s strength has always been its unity. FIFA has been called upon to safeguard the integrity of the sport and ensure its sanctity. It treats this as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgment. A proposal advanced on a compressed timeline, without meaningful consultation, and pushed toward a deadline before Member Associations could properly review its terms, is not the product of an oversight — it is the product of a design intended to limit scrutiny,” it added.
It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts it,” the statement said. We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it,” the letter said. This latest statement comes in the aftermath of FIFA’s comments, where the body criticised a “concerted and ongoing effort” to “undermine the organisation and Infantino.
