UEFA, CONCACAF & AFC planning rival tournaments amid FIFA boycott talks – Report
Gianni Infantino’s actions have led to a rift among the FIFA member associations.
UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC are reportedly discussing plans to launch new international football tournaments involving their 142 member associations, as the three continental associations have threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the football confederations from Europe, North and Central America, and Asia have threatened to boycott all future FIFA tournaments following a now-abandoned proposal by Gianni Infantino to privatise the commercial rights of the FIFA World Cup.
The leaked plans, which have since been withdrawn, involved a sale of 20% of the commercial rights of the marquee tournament to private investors. This understandably led to a barrage of criticism from several national bodies.
UEFA and most of its member nations withdrew the letters of support that they had sent to Infantino for his re-election campaign as FIFA president. CONCACAF and AFC have also publicly declared their opposition to the privatisation plans, although many of their member nations have lent support to Infantino.
Also Read: UEFA, AFC & Concacaf accuse Gianni Infantino of ‘deception’ over World Cup plan
UEFA, CONCACAF & AFC’s tournament plans
According to the Bloomberg report, an anonymous source said that UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC have begun preliminary discussions about organising tournaments that would involve their 142 member associations.
These tournaments, if they materialise, would be the biggest threat to FIFA’s monopoly of football governance since its establishment in 1904.
UEFA, the most powerful confederation in FIFA, has already announced that it will boycott any tournament organised by the global footballing body. CONCACAF and AFC have also condemned Infantino’s actions, although neither has committed to the boycott plans yet.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, which will begin on September 5 in Poland, is currently set to take place without any European teams participating. If CONCACAF and AFC join UEFA in the boycott, the tournament could be without more than half of FIFA’s 211 member associations.
What are UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC planning?
The three confederations are reportedly discussing the creation of rival international tournaments involving their 142 member nations, as a response to FIFA’s controversial commercial rights proposal.
Why are UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC considering a FIFA boycott?
The move follows backlash against Gianni Infantino’s abandoned proposal to privatise 20% of the FIFA World Cup’s commercial rights.
For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.
Sushruta has spent over two years covering football, with a particular focus on Indian and international competitions. Alongside football, he has reported on a variety of sports, bringing curiosity and perspective to every story. When he’s not following the action, he can usually be found binge-watching movies or getting lost in a good book.