UEFA, AFC, CONCACAF hit out at Infantino over World Cup privatisation plan

What the report says

UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF have jointly criticised FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his short-lived proposal to bring private investment into FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, according to Al Jazeera. In a letter reported on Monday, the three confederations said football should not be controlled by any one person and called for a fully independent review of the plan and the process behind it.

The statement follows a run of internal and public disputes inside FIFA. Infantino first proposed the stake-sale idea and then withdrew it within days, prompting criticism from multiple quarters. FIFA responded on Saturday by accusing some critics of trying to weaken the organisation and its president, while Infantino has continued to defend his leadership through FIFA’s statutes and internal voting rules.

Al Jazeera reported that the joint rebuke also questioned a recent FIFA emergency meeting in Morocco, saying the gathering highlighted a serious failure of judgement. The letter argued that football’s leadership should serve the game rather than personal authority. On Friday, Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness, often viewed as a potential future challenger to Infantino, also called for him to resign.

The dispute matters because it reflects wider tensions over governance, transparency and commercial influence in world football. FIFA and its six confederations are now split over the president’s authority, even as some members continue to back him ahead of future voting.