UEFA, AFC, CONCACAF accuse Infantino of deception in joint letter

The Story in Brief

Three continental football bodies, UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and CONCACAF, have jointly accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of 'deception' and a 'fundamental breach of trust' over the now-abandoned plan to sell a stake in the World Cup's commercial rights. Their open letter, published Monday, says Infantino placed himself above the collective and that the failure was not a communication error but a 'profound failure of judgment'. The confederations call for a fully independent third-party review of the episode, arguing FIFA should not investigate itself.

The plan, known as the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, would have created a new company to manage all FIFA competition rights and sold 21% to private investors for about $4.2 billion. FIFA scrapped the plan after intense criticism. Infantino has defended himself, and about 70 of FIFA's 211 member associations have publicly said they will vote for him. But the Norwegian football federation president has called for him to step down. FIFA previously accused critics of a 'concerted effort' to undermine the organisation.