AFC backs UEFA and CONCACAF who plan boycott over FIFA World Cup proposals

AFC backs UEFA and CONCACAF who plan boycott over FIFA-world-cup" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="1741" data-entity-type="event">FIFA World Cup proposalsFIFA face global mutiny as Asian Football Confederation stand with Europe and North America after their boycott threats.The ‌Asian Football Confederation has said it “stands in solidarity” with regional ⁠bodies UEFA and ⁠CONCACAF in opposing plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors but stopped short of threatening ⁠to boycott events run by FIFA, global football’s governing body.The confederation in a statement on Friday expressed “deep concern” over the proposed establishment of a $20bn commercial ⁠subsidiary, FIFA-forward-enterprise" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="173293" data-entity-type="organization">FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to run the World Cup and FIFA’s other events.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4What has FIFA charged Argentina with, and what could the punishment be?list 2 of 4Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the FIFA-world-cup" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="1741" data-entity-type="event">FIFA World Cup: All to knowlist 3 of 4Storm apologize after co-owner berates teen girls for support of Cunninghamlist 4 of 4Viral finger-clicker suspended as cricket storm remains in global spotlightend of list“The fact that the situation has reached the point where the real possibility of a FIFA-world-cup" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="1741" data-entity-type="event">FIFA World Cup boycott has entered public discourse should concern everyone ‌who cares about the future of our game,” the statement said.“Football should never have been placed in such a position.”UEFA, European football’s governing body, voted unanimously on Thursday to boycott all FIFA events unless the plans were dropped. CONCACAF, the regional federation for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, has also rejected ⁠FIFA’s proposal.On Thursday, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa had said the way the proposal had been made was “totally unacceptable”, in a letter to member associations.The AFC said “the proposed FFE cannot realistically achieve the necessary broad consensus and ⁠unity required to move forward.“The FIFA-world-cup" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="1741" data-entity-type="event">FIFA World Cup ⁠is the pinnacle of global football and derives its strength from the participation of all confederations and the world’s leading football nations.”The AFC also made a thinly veiled attack on the ⁠governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino, saying the plan “has exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA’s consultation and decision-making processes that ⁠must now be addressed”.