The joint statement also read that they have lost trust on Gianni Infantino and they called for an independent review of the whole incident
Published: August 10, 2026, 4:03 PM IST
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Time up for FIFA president Gianni Infantino? AFC, UEFA and CONCACAF release joint statement, call for…
In a latest development, three of the most important continental football bodies in the world, the Asian Football Confederations (AFC), the United European Football Association (UEFA) and Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) have released a joint statement together in the light of the apex world governing body’s attempt to privatize the FIFA World Cup.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was reportedly planning to sell 20-21 percent of of its ticketing, broadcasting, licensing and sponsorship revenues to a corporate entity named FIFA Forward Enterprise (FEE)In simple terms, Infantino wanted to create a subsidiary company to run major events like the men’s FIFA World Cups among others.
Infantino went as far as to set a deadline of September 19 for all the world football bodies to accept his proposal in order to gain a profit of around 20 million dollarsIn fact, investment banking company JP Morgan had even laid out a plan which would expand FIFA tournament’s revenues and lead to an increased payout of 24 million euros per member association during the 2035-2039 cycle.
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However, as soon as this plan was made public, FIFA and Gianni Infantino faced major backlash with a number of football associations coming together to stand against itAll 55 members of UEFA even threatened to boycott FIFA competitions if such a move had materialized.
Subsequently, other confederations also joined and FIFA had to withdraw its plans but the story is far from overIn a joint statement, the AFC, UEFA and CONCACAF has slammed FIFA’s attempts to privatize its tournaments as they accused the Infantino-led body of lacking accountability.
The joint statement also read that they have lost trust on Gianni Infantino and they called for an independent review of the whole incident.
“There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgment – not just a procedural misstep but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve,” an excerpt from the joint statement read.
“FIFA has also committed to presenting a full report on these events to the FIFA Council, once again failing to recognize that proper governance in the face of such a profound lack of judgement would require that such a review be conducted by a fully independent third party, not by FIFA itself, its staff or by any stakeholder within football,” it added.
AFC, UEFA and CONCACAF also added that there is silence and distance from FIFA’s side and openly claimed that these qualities do not belong to football.
“There is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be opennessThese are not the qualities football deserves in its leadershipThat is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together and out of duty to the game we serve,” the statement concluded.
