Asia confederation backs UEFA, CONCACAF opposition to FIFA World Cup sale plan

The Asian Football Confederation said on Friday (Jul 31) 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 soccer's governing body.

The confederation, in a statement, expressed "deep concern" about the proposed establishment of a US$20 billion 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."

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 that "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 that 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