AFC follow UEFA and CONCACAF in strongly protesting FIFA President Gianni Infantino's plan to sell the World Cup shares..

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on its official website on Saturday that they have decided to follow UEFA and CONCACAF in strongly protesting FIFA President Gianni Infantino's plan to sell the World Cup shares.

According to the AFC's official statement, with the possibility of a boycott of the World Cup becoming a focus of public discussion and attracting the attention of football enthusiasts worldwide, the AFC realized it could no longer ignore the matter.

The statement added: "Given this, and considering the clear positions of UEFA and CONCACAF, as well as the unprecedented division within the football community, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) believes that the proposed FFE cannot truly achieve the broad consensus and unity needed for its advancement."

"The World Cup is the pinnacle of global football, its allure stemming from the participation of all continental federations and the world's top footballing nations. Any proposal that could undermine the unity and global reach of the World Cup must be reconsidered."

The AFC also said: "This issue goes far beyond a single proposal. It exposes fundamental flaws in FIFA's consultation and decision-making processes."

"Despite FIFA's latest clarification on the proposal, core issues surrounding governance, institutional processes, and effective consultation remain unresolved."

"Because this proposal is so important, potentially impacting the commercial, competitive, and strategic future of world football, its implementation must not be compromised. Continental football federations, member associations, and even FIFA itself (including the FIFA Council) feel marginalized."

Finally, the AFC emphasized: "The primary goal of world football must be to ensure that such significant decisions are made through transparent processes that earn the trust of the football community."

"This is not the first time major stakeholders have faced significant moves only after the established direction seems to have been set. This approach undermines confidence in FIFA's governance framework and diminishes the authority of its statutory body. Any subsequent consultations, however well-intentioned, cannot replace early communication with FIFA-related bodies and the football family."

On the other hand, the UK's Telegraph reported that although the AFC, UEFA, and CONCACAF all issued strong statements expressing outrage at Infantino's plans, not every official within their respective football associations shared the same stance.

It is understood that the Czech Football Association was the first to decide to yield to Infantino's plan.

The president of the Czech Football Association, citing financial considerations, had told internal officials that "Infantino's plan is indeed more attractive than UEFA's funding for the development of grassroots football in the Czech Republic."

An Indonesian Football Association official even publicly expressed a similar stance to Bernama.

The news of Infantino's intention to sell World Cup shares was broken by The Times on July 28th, UK time.

According to the report, Infantino has proposed establishing a commercial subsidiary called "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE) to handle the commercial operations of the World Cup and other FIFA events, and to sell minority shares to private investors. The company is reportedly valued at approximately $20 billion.

It is understood that private investors will hold approximately 20% of FFE's shares, with the investment group led by Thrive Eternal, founded by American entrepreneur Joshua Kushner.

Jared Kushner is related to current US President Donald Trump by marriage, leading many to question whether the establishment of the FFF is closely linked to Infantino and Trump, and the latter's suspected interference is unavoidable.

FIFA has proposed a plan to its 211 member associations, offering each association a new funding package totaling $10 billion starting in 2027 if supported by September 19th, averaging approximately $40 million per association; if the plan is rejected, the existing funding plan of approximately $2.7 billion will remain.

This announcement immediately sparked strong criticism from fans, media, journalists worldwide as well as UEFA, and CONCACAF. UEFA even threatened to boycott any international tournaments organized by FIFA.

Other opponents worry that private investors pursuing commercial returns, and FIFA's commitment to increasing development funding for member associations, could lead to an increase in the number of matches, further impacting the already overly packed global football schedule.

However, FIFA emphasizes that investors do not and have no right to participate in determining the scale and frequency of major tournaments such as the World Cup, the Women's World Cup, and the Club World Cup.

Image source: Internet / Getty Images