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UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC accuse FIFA of deception over World Cup plan

sportsAug 11, 2026151,907

UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of deception and a “fundamental breach of trust” after his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, in an open letter co-signed by UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, AFC president Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani and the confederations’ general secretaries. The letter said “when trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned.” FIFA has apologized for errors connected to the proposal, and senior staff at a crisis meeting in Morocco sought to present a unified front by reaffirming their full support for Infantino. The dispute has prompted concrete backlash inside the game: Norway’s federation has called for Infantino to step down and England’s Football Association has withdrawn its support for his re-election next March. UEFA had earlier threatened to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions over the plan. U.S. President Donald Trump publicly defended Infantino on social media, while critics inside the sport say the episode amounts to a revolt against Infantino’s leadership.

Forbes
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Teams from Europe, Asia and North America also blasted Gianni Infantino's recent plan to privatize a portion of the World Cup as a "profound failure of judgement."

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