KARACHI: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Uefa and Concacaf have jointly accused Fifa leadership of a “fundamental breach of trust” over a now-abandoned proposal to sell an interest in the commercial rights to the Fifa World Cup, calling for an independent investigation into how the plan was developed and presented.
In an unusually forceful open letter addressed to the football family, the presidents and general secretaries of the three confederations said the controversy was not primarily about money but about the integrity of the game and the integrity of those elected to lead it.
The letter was signed by AFC President Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Concacaf President Victor Montagliani and Uefa President Aleksander Čeferin, along with the three confederations’ general secretaries.
The three confederations said leadership in football should be regarded as a duty of service rather than the possession or exercise of power.
They said that when trust is broken through deception, or when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, the responsibility of leadership has been abandoned.
The statement did not name Fifa President Gianni Infantino directly in the text, but its criticism comes after Fifa’s proposal to establish a new commercial entity, Fifa Forward Enterprise, which would have brought together Fifa’s commercial rights and tournament operations.
The confederations said Fifa’s recent communication to its vice-presidents and 211 member associations acknowledged mistakes but characterised the issue as a failure of communication.
“We believe what football witnessed was a failure of judgment,” they said, arguing that the proposal had been advanced on a compressed timeline, without meaningful consultation and towards a deadline before member associations could properly examine its terms.
They went further, saying there had been no acknowledgement that the proposal itself was fundamentally wrong.
The attempt to sell an interest in the Fifa World Cup, they said, was “a profound failure of judgment” and not merely a procedural mistake but a fundamental breach of trust with the institutions Fifa exists to serve.
The three confederations have also rejected Fifa’s plan to conduct an internal review of the episode.
Fifa has committed to presenting a report on the events to the Fifa Council, but the AFC, Uefa and Concacaf said that, given the seriousness of the matter, any review should instead be conducted by a fully independent third party.
“The Fifa administration should play no role in conducting the review,” they said.
They also called for all relevant documents and records to be preserved, referring to Uefa’s previous communication on document preservation.
The confederations also raised concerns about a recent leadership meeting in Morocco.
According to their letter, Fifa’s own communication confirmed that only one elected official was present at the meeting. No Fifa Council members or member associations were invited, while only a selection of senior Fifa-employed staff from the management committee attended.
The confederations said the decision to summon selected management committee members abroad, rather than having Fifa leadership travel to Zurich, reinforces their concerns and represents a continuation of the conduct that led to the current dispute.
Fifa had proposed creating Fifa Forward Enterprise, a Fifa-owned and controlled subsidiary that would combine commercial rights and event operations, including broadcasting, sponsorship, licensing, ticketing and tournament delivery.
Fifa said the initiative was intended to unlock additional commercial value and increase funding available to its 211 member associations for infrastructure, grassroots football and development.
Reports stated that Fifa’s plan involved creating a commercial subsidiary valued at around $20 billion and offering external investors a minority stake of up to 20%.
The proposal triggered strong opposition from football’s major confederations and national associations, particularly over governance, consultation and the prospect of private investors obtaining an interest in the commercial rights connected to the World Cup.
Fifa subsequently abandoned the proposal, but the joint letter from the AFC, Uefa and Concacaf makes clear that the three confederations believe the governance questions surrounding the episode remain unresolved.’
The three confederations stressed that the dispute was not about overturning previous collective decisions.
They said the expansion of tournaments, the awarding of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups and the distribution of resources to member associations were collective achievements involving Fifa, the confederations and national associations.
They also said they were not seeking to revisit decisions on tournament expansion or World Cup allocations.
Instead, they called for greater accountability and unity across the sport.
“Football’s strength has always been its unity,” the confederations said, calling for leadership that “serves football, not seeks to command it.”
The joint intervention represents one of the strongest collective challenges to Fifa leadership by the game’s major regional confederations and puts governance, accountability and the limits of Fifa presidential authority at the centre of the dispute.
