FIFA's plan to set up a commercial company to run its tournaments and let investors buy stakes in it has taken a fresh blow. The Asian Football Confederation has officially joined UEFA and CONCACAF, the confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, in opposing the proposal.
The AFC used an official statement today, Friday, to confirm it stands "in solidarity" with UEFA and CONCACAF, warning that the project in its current form cannot achieve the consensus and unity needed to move forward.
According to the statement, the World Cup represents the pinnacle of world football and draws its strength from the participation of all continental confederations and the leading national teams. Any proposal that could threaten the unity of the tournament or its global character, the AFC stressed, must be reconsidered.
This is a heavy blow to the plans of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. It makes pushing the project through a vote far harder.
Infantino had explained that adopting the proposal requires the approval of a simple majority, meaning the backing of 106 confederations out of the 211 members of the international federation.
Together, UEFA and CONCACAF hold 90 votes within FIFA's general assembly, while the AFC holds 46. Opposition from these three blocs leaves the project facing a major obstacle.
The AFC also criticised the way FIFA has handled the proposal. The federation set the course of the initiative before conducting any genuine consultations with the parties concerned, which, according to the statement, exposed fundamental weaknesses in the consultation and decision-making mechanisms within FIFA.
That absence of consultation, it added, left the continental and national confederations, and even FIFA's administrative bodies including the council, feeling sidelined. The AFC called for an urgent review of the governance system and decision-making mechanisms to ensure that initiatives with a global impact are discussed through genuine consultations and appropriate institutional oversight.
UEFA had announced yesterday, Thursday, its categorical rejection of the project and threatened to boycott the World Cup tournaments if FIFA proceeded with its plan, before CONCACAF confirmed that its 41 confederations rejected the proposal too.
FIFA hit back at the wave of objections with a statement insisting it is continuing along the path of consultations. "No one is selling football," it affirmed, adding that inaccurate media reports had disrupted the consultation process it had intended to carry out.
The project aims to establish a commercial company affiliated with FIFA to run its major tournaments, chief among them the World Cup, while allowing external investors to buy stakes in it. The international federation insists this would not affect the spirit of the game or the institution's governance structure.
UEFA see it differently, accusing FIFA of seeking to use football to secure financial gains for its officials and their partners. Both the AFC and CONCACAF have focused on the lack of transparency and the weakness of consultations before the project was put forward.
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) has not yet announced its official position. Both the African confederation (CAF) and the Oceania confederation (OFC) confirmed that they would discuss the proposal during meetings scheduled for August.