UEFA, Concacaf and AFC issue open letter criticising FIFA commercial plan | OneFootball

UEFA, Concacaf and the AFC have co-signed an open letter to the football family condemning FIFA’s conduct around a proposed commercial vehicle, despite the plan being withdrawn.

According to L'Équipe, the letter, released on Monday and signed by the presidents and secretaries general of the three bodies, sets out a common stance against what they view as FIFA manoeuvres linked to a company through which Gianni Infantino sought to sell shares in the World Cup.

The confederations state that football does not belong to any individual or institution and argue that leadership is a duty of service, not a possession. They say trust is broken by deception and that when an individual places themselves above the collective that entrusted them, that duty has been abandoned, without naming Infantino.

They describe FIFA’s proposal as a strategy designed to limit critical scrutiny. The bodies lament that a letter to member associations framed the matter as a communication error, rather than acknowledging the project as intrinsically flawed.

They add that recent events should be reviewed by an independent third party, not by the FIFA Council, and criticise a crisis meeting called by the Italo-Swiss leader that excluded member associations. The letter, signed among others by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and general secretary Theodore Theodoridis, closes by urging respect for unity and for leadership that serves the game rather than seeks to control it.

Source: L'Équipe

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