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UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf have accused FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino of breaking the trust of football’s governing institutions “through deception”.
In a strongly worded open letter to the football family earlier today, August 10, the three confederations said the dispute surrounding FIFA’s proposed Forward Enterprise (FFE) was not primarily about money, but about “the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it”.
Naija News reports that the FFE proposal would have created a new company to oversee the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup. A 21 per cent stake in the company was reportedly earmarked for sale to a private investment firm.
The proposal was abandoned following widespread opposition from several confederations, with UEFA leading the criticism and threatening a boycott of FIFA competitions.
“When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,” the letter read.
The latest development follows a FIFA statement on Saturday in which the organisation condemned what it described as a “concerted and ongoing effort” to “undermine” FIFA and Infantino.
The three confederations also rejected FIFA’s decision to conduct its own review of the controversy. FIFA has committed to presenting a report on the matter to its Council in October.
However, UEFA, AFC and Concacaf called for the investigation to be handled by an independent body.
“FIFA has also committed to presenting a full report on these events to the FIFA Council, once again failing to recognize that proper governance in the face of such a profound lack of judgment would require that such a review be conducted by a fully independent third party, not by FIFA itself, its staff, or by any stakeholder within football.”
The confederations accused FIFA of pushing the FFE proposal through a compressed process without adequate consultation with its members.
They also criticised the decision to discuss the proposal at a leadership meeting in Morocco where, according to FIFA’s own account, only one elected official was present.
“No FIFA Council members or Member Associations were invited to participate,” the letter stated.
The three bodies said the handling of the affair had deepened concerns about FIFA’s leadership and governance.
“This is not about money,” they said, insisting that their position was centred on the way football’s global governing body exercises power and consults its stakeholders.
The letter ended with a call for unity and leadership that serves the wider football community.
“Football’s strength has always been its unity. We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it.”
Below is the complete AFC, CONCACAF and UEFA joint Open Letter to the Football Family
Dear Football Family,
Football is the world’s greatest shared passion. It belongs to no individual and no institution.
It belongs to the players, the fans, the clubs, the Member Associations and every institution entrusted with safeguarding its future.
It is in that spirit, as confederations representing our members, that we speak collectively today.
The growth of football over the past decade has been real. But that progress was never the work of one individual. It was the result of FIFA, the Confederations, the Member Associations and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the game working together.
The expansion of tournaments, the awarding of the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups and the distribution of resources to associations were shared achievements, agreed together and delivered together.
This is not about money. The Confederations have already called for the responsible distribution of FIFA’s vast existing reserves to further strengthen investment in the development of Member Associations.
Nor is it about any Member Association losing the support it has earned, despite the fearmongering directed at our membership to suggest otherwise. Nor is it about revisiting the expansion of competitions, World Cup allocations or any other decisions reached collectively. Those decisions were made together, and they must stand.
This is about something more fundamental: the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it.
Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding or demanding power for the sake of holding it. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts it.
When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned.
FIFA’s recent letter to its Vice-Presidents and 211 Member Associations acknowledges that mistakes were made in the process. It treats this as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgement.
A proposal advanced on a compressed timeline, without meaningful consultation, and pushed towards a deadline before Member Associations could properly review its terms is not the product of an oversight. It is the product of a design intended to limit scrutiny.
It did not acknowledge that the proposal itself was inherently wrong. There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgement, not merely a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve.
FIFA has also committed to presenting a full report on these events to the FIFA Council. Once again, however, it fails to recognise that proper governance in the face of such a profound lack of judgement requires a review conducted by a fully independent third party, not by FIFA itself, its staff or any stakeholder within football.
The FIFA administration should play no role in conducting the review.
As stated in previous correspondence, all relevant documents and records must be preserved in accordance with UEFA’s communication on the preservation of documents.
FIFA’s own letter also confirms that only one elected official was present at the leadership meeting in Morocco. No FIFA Council members or Member Associations were invited to participate. Only the Management Committee, composed of FIFA-employed senior staff, was present.
The recent meeting, at which a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee, rather than the full Committee, were summoned abroad instead of FIFA leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of the organisation and its staff, only reinforces these concerns.
It represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment.
It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him.
There is silence where there should be accountability, and distance where there should be openness.
These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership.
That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.
Football’s strength has always been its unity. We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it.
Yours sincerely,
SALMAN BIN IBRAHIM AL KHALIFA
President, AFC
VICTOR MONTAGLIANI
President, Concacaf
ALEKSANDER ČEFERIN
President, UEFA
DATUK SERI WINDSOR JOHN
General Secretary, AFC
PHILIPPE MOGGIO
General Secretary, Concacaf
THEODORE THEODORIDIS
General Secretary, UEFA
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