Asian Football Confederation welcomes FIFA decision to scrap World Cup stake sale

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa on Saturday welcomed FIFA’s decision to scrap plans to sell a stake in the World Cup.

In a statement released by the AFC, Shaikh Salman said proposals with the potential to impact global football should be presented and discussed with the confederations, the FIFA Council, member associations and other stakeholders in a “timely, transparent and meaningful manner.”

“The future of global football must always be shaped through proper consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our game,” he said.

He added that the AFC remains ready to support initiatives that strengthen unity across the sport.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced Friday that he has scrapped plans to sell a stake in a new subsidiary overseeing the World Cup and other competitions, saying the proposal had “created divisions” that were no longer in the interest of its original objective.

The scrapped plan had sought to sell more than 20% of a new $20 billion FIFA Forward Enterprise subsidiary to private investors, according to a report.