The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has joined growing opposition to FIFA President Gianni Infantino\u2019s proposal to bring private investors into the commercial ownership of the World Cup, calling for an urgent review of FIFA\u2019s governance and decision-making processes.<\/p>\n
The AFC said on Friday that it stood in solidarity with European football\u2019s governing body UEFA and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), both of which have raised strong objections to the proposal.<\/p>\n
UEFA has threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions, while CONCACAF has rejected FIFA\u2019s offer of one-time payments of $20 million to each member federation.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball should never have been placed in such a position,\u201d the AFC said, highlighting concerns over the direction of FIFA\u2019s management.<\/p>\n
The AFC represents 46 of FIFA\u2019s 211 member associations, all of which were given a September 19 deadline to respond to the proposed financial arrangement.<\/p>\n
Infantino\u2019s plan would separate FIFA\u2019s commercial operations, including the men\u2019s and women\u2019s World Cups and Club World Cups, into a new entity reportedly valued at about $20 billion. Private investors would hold a 20% stake in the proposed subsidiary.<\/p>\n
FIFA has identified a New York-based investment firm founded by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law, as the project\u2019s potential \u201canchor investor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AFC said the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise was unlikely to secure the broad agreement needed to proceed and called for the plan to be reconsidered.<\/p>\n
The Asian body also criticised FIFA\u2019s consultation process, arguing that the controversy revealed deeper problems within the organisation\u2019s governance and decision-making structures.<\/p>\n
The AFC said the issue was not simply about private investment but also about the way major decisions were being developed and communicated to FIFA\u2019s member associations.<\/p>\n
FIFA, meanwhile, defended its approach and blamed what it described as inaccurate media reports for disrupting its planned consultation process.<\/p>\n
The governing body said it would continue consulting its 211 member associations to ensure they could make decisions based on what it called the facts of the proposal.<\/p>\n
The growing dispute could have immediate consequences for upcoming FIFA competitions. UEFA has indicated that a boycott could affect the Women\u2019s Under-20 World Cup in Poland, which is scheduled to begin on September 5.<\/p>\n
The controversy also comes as the four British football associations continue their joint bid to host the 2035 Women\u2019s World Cup, with FIFA expected to decide the host on November 23.<\/p>\n
With several major confederations now expressing opposition, pressure is mounting on FIFA to reconsider the investment proposal before its September deadline.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has joined growing opposition to FIFA President Gianni Infantino\u2019s proposal to bring private investors into the commercial ownership of the World Cup, calling for an urgent review of FIFA\u2019s governance and decision-making processes. The AFC said on Friday that it stood in solidarity with European football\u2019s governing body UEFA and<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":"","twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[{"account":"facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663","service":"facebook","timestamp":1785504307,"status":"error"},{"account":"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570","service":"twitter","timestamp":1785504307,"status":"error"}],"rop_publish_now_status":"done","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,22,23],"tags":[3401,285,3408,3403,3410,3404,441,3400,3399,3192,1926,3409,916,3405,3406,1167,3402,3407,3303],"class_list":["post-15588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general-news","category-sports","category-world-news","tag-afc","tag-amnewsworld","tag-club-world-cup","tag-concacaf","tag-fifa-forward-enterprise","tag-fifa-governance","tag-football","tag-gianni-infantino","tag-ifa","tag-international-football","tag-jared-kushner","tag-joshua-kushner","tag-poland","tag-private-investment","tag-soccer","tag-sports-news","tag-uefa","tag-womens-world-cup","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\n