UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF have joined forces and sent a letter to FIFA: Football does not belong to one person!

The Association of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) have published a joint open letter to the World Football Association (FIFA).

The letter emphasizes that football belongs to everyone.

– Football is the greatest shared passion in the world. It does not belong to any one person or organization. This is not a dispute about money or renegotiating agreed decisions, but about the integrity of the game and its leaders. The management of football is not about ownership. It is not about retaining power or claiming it for ourselves. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts us with this power, the letter says.

A few days ago, FIFA admitted that mistakes were made in the process of proposing the possible sale of World Cup rights to private investors.

– A proposal submitted at short notice, without meaningful consultation, and pushed before member associations have had the opportunity to properly examine its terms, is not the result of an oversight, but the result of a design designed to limit control. Where there should be accountability, there is silence; where there should be openness, there is alienation. The strength of football has always been its unity. “We appeal for this unity to be respected now – for the sake of a leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it,” the letter from the three football associations added.

UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF have called for an independent review of the actions of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who initiated the sale of World Cup rights to private investors.

On 28 July, FIFA announced plans to create a new entity to which the organization's media and commercial rights, including for the World Cup, would be transferred, with a quarter of this being sold to private investors for $4,2 billion. This proposal was rejected by UEFA, CONCACAF, AFC and CONMEBOL. FIFA President Gianni Infantino later announced that he was abandoning the project.

The Association of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) have published a joint open letter to the World Football Association (FIFA).

The letter emphasizes that football belongs to everyone.

– Football is the greatest shared passion in the world. It does not belong to any one person or organization. This is not a dispute about money or renegotiating agreed decisions, but about the integrity of the game and its leaders. The management of football is not about ownership. It is not about retaining power or claiming it for ourselves. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts us with this power, the letter says.

A few days ago, FIFA admitted that mistakes were made in the process of proposing the possible sale of World Cup rights to private investors.

– A proposal submitted at short notice, without meaningful consultation, and pushed before member associations have had the opportunity to properly examine its terms, is not the result of an oversight, but the result of a design designed to limit control. Where there should be accountability, there is silence; where there should be openness, there is alienation. The strength of football has always been its unity. “We appeal for this unity to be respected now – for the sake of a leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it,” the letter from the three football associations added.

UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF have called for an independent review of the actions of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who initiated the sale of World Cup rights to private investors.

On 28 July, FIFA announced plans to create a new entity to which the organization's media and commercial rights, including for the World Cup, would be transferred, with a quarter of this being sold to private investors for $4,2 billion. This proposal was rejected by UEFA, CONCACAF, AFC and CONMEBOL. FIFA President Gianni Infantino later announced that he was abandoning the project.