Asian confederation chief welcome’s FIFA decision to scrap World Cup sell-off plan
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football – World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws – FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 General view outside the headquarters REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
Aug 1 : Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa on Saturday welcomed FIFA’s decision to walk back plans to sell a stake in the World Cup and stressed the need to discuss all such moves with transparency in the future.
FIFA’s plan was to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling about a 20 per cent stake to private investors in a new unit that would run FIFA events, including the World Cup.
The proposal, first announced on Tuesday, had faced a storm of opposition from regional confederations, including the AFC, which said they were blindsided by the announcement.
Following the backlash, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said world soccer’s governing body had scrapped the plans after listening “carefully to all the views”.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
In a letter posted on the AFC’s website, Sheikh Salman said he expects “any initiative that has the potential to impact global football will be presented and discussed with the Confederations, the FIFA Council, Member Associations and other stakeholders in a timely, transparent and meaningful manner.”
“The future of global football must always be shaped through proper consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our game,” he said.
On Thursday, Sheikh Salman had said the way the FIFA proposal had been made was “totally unacceptable” in a letter to member associations.
The Kuala Lumpur-based AFC is one of FIFA’s six confederations and is responsible for running regional club and national team competitions across continental Asia, the Middle East and Australia.
Source: Reuters
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
About The Author
