More pressure has been piled on under-fire FIFA president Gianni Infantino by the publication of an open letter from the governing bodies of soccer in Europe, Asia, and North America and the Caribbean.
A letter was issued earlier today by Europe's UEFA, Asia's AFC, and Concacaf in the Americas, signed by those three bodies' presidents and general secretaries, again excoriating Infantino over his FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) minority stake-sale proposal from late last month. All three bodies have already issued strong statements – including calling for a World Cup boycott – on the matter, but this represents the first joint communication.
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In the letter, FIFA president Infantino, who has been in situ since 2016 and up until recently looked a shoo-in for next year's FIFA presidential election, has been accused of placing himself "above the collective that entrusted him with authority," despite the abandonment of the plans – for now – earlier this month.
The letter, which does not mention Infantino by name, states: "When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned.
"Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding – or demanding – power to be held. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts it."
Multiple media sources have reported that the trio of regional soccer bodies has issued the statement as an invitation for Infantino to resign, and also that there have been initial talks between UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC over the potential for breakaway competitions between those three bodies – if Infantino does not step down.
The FFE proposals would have seen Switzerland-based FIFA sell off 21% of FFE – which would have taken the form of a commercial and events-focused subsidiary – to private investors.
Capital holding company Thrive Eternal – led by the brother of US president Donald Trump's son-in-law – would have likely led the FFE investor group, meanwhile.
Now, UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC have said that their moves to replace Infantino are "about something … fundamental: the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it.
"Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding – or demanding – power to be held. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts it."
It adds that the statements from FIFA over the last week or so have shown "silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness.
"These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership. That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve."
Last week, Infantino called members of the senior FIFA management team to a board meeting in Rabat, Morocco – this letter criticises that move, stating that FIFA council members and member association representatives should also have been present.
It also criticises FIFA's most recent communique for not allowing that the FFE proposal "was inherently wrong … There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the Fifa World Cup was a profound failure of judgement.
"Not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions Fifa exists to serve."
Other criticisms included FIFA's promised report into the FFE fiasco not being from an independent, third-party organization, while the bodies also urged FIFA to preserve "all relevant documents and records" around the issue.
The letter concluded: "Football’s strength has always been its unity. We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it."
Nothing in the letter publicly suggested that the trio of soccer bodies are moving towards establishing breakaway competitions, with those suggestions not on public record yet.
The international governing body's plans would have involved raising $4.2 billion through selling 21% of FFE – assuming a total valuation of $20 billion in the venture.
FIFA said this would go towards creating a new funding mechanism for its 211 member associations, called the FIFA Fast-Forward Programme (FFFP).
