UEFA, AFC, CONCACAF Slam FIFA Chief Over World Cup Rights Deal

Three major football confederations, UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and CONCACAF, have united to condemn FIFA President Gianni Infantino's handling of the proposed World Cup commercial rights sale, demanding an independent review into his alleged 'deception'.

Key Points

UEFA, AFC, and CONCACAF issued a joint statement criticising FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
They accused Infantino of 'deception' and breaking trust over the abandoned proposal to sell a stake in World Cup commercial rights.
The three confederations called for a fully independent review into Infantino's conduct.
The statement emphasised the importance of football's unity and called for leadership that serves the sport.

UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and CONCACAF, which runs football in the Caribbean, North and Central America, issued a joint statement on Monday attacking FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his conduct during the proposed sale of stake in the commercial rights to the World Cup.

The statement said that Infantino had broken trust "through deception" with the now abandoned proposal, had "placed himself above the collective" and the three confederations called for a fully independent review of what had happened.

"Football's strength has always been its unity," the statement concluded.

"We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it."

The Swiss administrator has faced open revolt in the football world since he proposed and then abandoned a plan to carve off the commercial rights to the World Cup and sell 20% of them to private investors to raise about $4.2 billion.

UEFA, backed by the AFC and CONCACAF, have threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments until they receive a promise that no similar schemes will be proposed in the future.

"Leadership in football is not a possession," they said in Monday's statement.

"It is not about holding -- or demanding -- power to be held. 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."

They also criticised a FIFA emergency meeting in Morocco last week, saying there was only one elected official present, while also calling for an independent review which FIFA would have no role in, to determine what led to this "profound failure of judgement."

US Soccer, Canada Soccer, which co-hosted the 2026 World Cup with Mexico, joined with the Caribbean Football Union and the Central American Football Union to back the stance, saying FIFA needed "meaningful" change.

"(We) stand together, along with our colleagues around the world, in calling for meaningful change that strengthens FIFA’s governance, transparency and accountability," they said in a statement.

Despite the opposition of the three confederations, which represent 136 of the 211 member associations who will vote in the FIFA presidential election in March, Infantino has plenty of allies in the game.

Several AFC nations, as well as Mexico from CONCACAF, have already said they will back him.

After quelling in-house dissent at the emergency FIFA meeting in Morocco last Wednesday, Infantino rallied his support before heading to Colombia to attend the inauguration of new President Abelardo De La Espriella in Cali.

Africa's confederation CAF released a statement on behalf of its 54 members backing Infantino on Thursday with South American countries Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador and Bolivia following suit.

On Friday, as Infantino attended the inauguration of Colombia's new president Abelardo De La Espriella in Cali, FIFA released a blistering attack on the critics of the president.

It warned against what it called a "concerted and ongoing effort" to undermine Infantino, saying attempts to challenge his leadership must follow the governing body's statutes and democratic procedures.

FIFA also echoed the statements of several of the bodies that supported Infantino, as well as one from South American confederation CONMEBOL.

FIFA's statement came after reports by The Daily Telegraph about payments made by UEFA to a former employee during Infantino's time as the European governing body's general secretary, allegations he has denied and that FIFA has rejected as unfounded.

Almost 70 of FIFA's member associations have said publicly they will vote for Infantino, who would need a two-thirds majority in the first round of voting or a simple majority in subsequent rounds to extend his presidency until 2031.

Any rivals to Infantino have until November 18 to announce their candidature.

Infantino has apologised for mistakes made during the stake sale proposal but the letter from the three confederations said that was not enough.

"It did not acknowledge that the proposal itself was inherently wrong," it read.

"There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgment — not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve."