Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has branded FIFA's plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors as 'totally unacceptable', saying the move undermines the sport's existing continental structure.
The Bahraini's unusually forthright comments were made in a letter sent on Thursday to the regional body's 47 member associations, which was seen by Reuters news agency.
FIFA on Tuesday said it planned to create a $20 billion commercial subsidiary to run the World Cup and its other events, drawing criticism from regional confederations, including the AFC, which said they were blindsided by the announcement.
'The AFC notes with great concern and disappointment that it was not consulted by FIFA at any level prior to the public announcement of this proposal,' Sheikh Salman wrote. He added that the AFC had not received any detailed governance, financial or legal analysis of the proposal and its potential repercussions, calling it 'totally unacceptable'.
'Furthermore, the AFC is deeply concerned that FIFA's unilateral actions appear to undermine the very foundations of continental football, which are based on solidarity, cooperation and transparency,' the letter said.
The Kuala Lumpur-based AFC is one of FIFA's six confederations and is responsible for running regional club and national team competitions across a vast expanse encompassing continental Asia, the Middle East and Australia. Sheikh Salman said the proposal would not succeed without the support of all confederations.
He called for FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal to be 'thoroughly examined and discussed through the appropriate legal and governance channels' and questioned the tight timeline given to member associations to approve the plan.
Infantino said in a letter to all 211 football associations this week that they would receive $40 million each if they agreed to FIFA's proposal by September 19. Sheikh Salman asked the confederation's members to avoid making a decision on the proposal until the AFC had engaged in further discussions with FIFA.
Source: www.aljazeera.com