Three continental confederations—UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North and Central America), and the AFC (Asia)—issued a joint statement criticizing FIFA President Gianni Infantino, insisting that football “belongs to no individual.”
The statement, released on August 10, came after Infantino faced intense criticism over plans to attract private investment into FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup. The initiative was launched but withdrawn within days.
“Leadership in football is not an asset. It is not holding—or demanding—power to be held,” the confederations wrote in an open letter. “When trust is broken by deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that empowered him, that duty has been abandoned.”
The three confederations called for a comprehensive independent investigation into the share-sale proposal and criticized last week's emergency FIFA meeting in Morocco for having only one elected official present. They want a review conducted without FIFA involvement to determine what led to a “serious failure of judgment.”
The statement concluded: “Football's strength has always been unity. We call for that unity to be respected now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it.”
Earlier, on August 8, the president of the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), Lise Klaveness—seen as a potential contender to replace Infantino—called for him to step down immediately. Klaveness has long been a vocal critic of Infantino.
FIFA responded on Saturday (August 9), calling it a “coordinated and persistent effort by some to undermine” the world governing body and Infantino personally. FIFA's statement came after the Daily Telegraph reported on payments UEFA made to a former employee during Infantino's time as general secretary, allegations he denies and FIFA deems baseless.
At Wednesday's emergency meeting, FIFA sought to quell internal discord, apologized to its 211 member associations, and Infantino rallied support among confederations. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) issued a statement backing Infantino on behalf of its 54 members, joined by Mexico (a CONCACAF member) and South American nations such as Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
Nearly 70 of FIFA's 211 member associations have publicly declared they would vote for Infantino, while about a dozen associations have withdrawn promised support or said they would not vote for him. Beyond UEFA, confederations that have lost confidence in Infantino are not fully united, with some Asian nations and Mexico still backing him.
