Asia, Europe welcome end of Fifa’s World Cup investor plans in a big defeat for Infantino

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has welcomed the decision by Fifa to scrap World Cup investor plans after fierce backlash against the ruling body and its president, Gianni Infantino, while Europe’s Uefa issued a strong-worded statement on Saturday. The AFC had joined 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 Infantino would have no majority from the 211 members and Infantino said early on Saturday that the plan – which also included a September 19 deadline for members to agree and be eligible for US$20 million – was now scrapped. Project abandoned “Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” he said. “Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed. “Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support.” The AFC stance An AFC statement said that its president, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, welcomed the decision and “expects that, going forward, any initiative that has the potential to impact global football will be presented and discussed with the Confederations, the Fifa Council, member associations (MAs) 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,” Shaikh Salman said. “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 setback ahead of election Uefa also welcomed news that Fifa had abandoned its plan, but hit out hard at the governing body and Infantino again. “The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” a statement said. “This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story. The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in Fifa has only just begun.” Uefa spoke of a “shabby, back room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through” without any transparency and also questioned why US$5 billion of Fifa reserves were not used for the benefit of the game. “We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account,” Uefa said. “In the coming days and weeks, Uefa will work with its associations and in close cooperation with other confederations to reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again. That review should be thorough and fundamental. No option should be off the table.” The media rated the outcome a major defeat for Infantino, who had previously come under fire for being close with United States President Donald Trump and Fifa scrapping a red card suspension for American player Folarin Balogun at the World Cup after Trump had intervened by phoning Infantino. Britain’s Daily Mail said that Infantino had been “humiliated”, L’Equipe in France rated Fifa in crisis and Spain’s EL Pais said that Infantino had suffered “a global setback”. 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. 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, just like the AFC. “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.” Infantino ‘the wrong man’ Uefa vice-president Laura McAllister told the BBC that Uefa would be “considering options” now but that “trust in the president of Fifa has been badly shaken this week”, with questions arising “whether he is the leader to take us forward as a global football organisation”. 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. Trump said on Friday he had not spoken to Infantino about the project, which involved his wider family as the company of Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, was a planned leading investor. “Trump famously doesn’t like losers. Infantino promised him something he could not deliver,” Sky UK said. “How long will it be before even Trump decides that Infantino is yesterday’s man?”

Asia, Europe welcome end of Fifa’s World Cup investor plans in a big defeat for Infantino

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}AFC chief calls for more transparency as doubts are cast on Infantino’s 2027 ⁠re-election prospects; Uefa declares ‘no confidence’

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Project abandoned

AFC chief calls for more transparency as doubts are cast on Infantino’s 2027 ⁠re-election prospects; Uefa declares ‘no confidence’

Project abandoned