AFC backs UEFA and CONCACAF who plan boycott over FIFA World Cup proposals

The ‌Asian Football Confederation has said it “stands in solidarity” with regional ⁠bodies UEFA and ⁠CONCACAF in opposing plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors but stopped short of threatening ⁠to boycott events run by FIFA, global football’s governing body.

The confederation in a statement on Friday expressed “deep concern” over the proposed establishment of a $20bn commercial ⁠subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run the World Cup and FIFA’s other events.

“The fact that the situation has reached the point where the real possibility of a FIFA World Cup boycott has entered public discourse should concern everyone ‌who cares about the future of our game,” the statement said.

“Football should never have been placed in such a position.”

UEFA, European football’s governing body, voted unanimously on Thursday to boycott all FIFA events unless the plans were dropped. CONCACAF, the regional federation for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, has also rejected ⁠FIFA’s proposal.

On Thursday, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa had said the way the proposal had been made was “totally unacceptable”, in a letter to member associations.

The AFC said “the proposed FFE cannot realistically achieve the necessary broad consensus and ⁠unity required to move forward.

“The FIFA World Cup ⁠is the pinnacle of global football and derives its strength from the participation of all confederations and the world’s leading football nations.”

The AFC also made a thinly veiled attack on the ⁠governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino, saying the plan “has exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA’s consultation and decision-making processes that ⁠must now be addressed”.

Even after FIFA issued ⁠a new statement on Friday, saying each national association “should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future”, the AFC said “central concerns surrounding governance, ‌institutional process and meaningful consultation remain unanswered”.

It said the furore must become a catalyst for institutional reform at FIFA, and that “meaningful democracy is not ‌measured ‌solely by the opportunity to vote.

“It begins with transparent governance, timely consultation, informed deliberation and genuine participation throughout the decision-making process.”