London, July 30 (EFE)
The 55 member federations of UEFA will hold an emergency meeting this Thursday to discuss changes to the World Cup planned by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, according to British media.
While not the only institution to criticize FIFA’s move, UEFA has been the most vocal in its opposition to the plan, which involves selling World Cup participation to private entities. This move could generate millions of euros for Infantino.
The European governing body initially stated that “boundaries” had been crossed and reiterated its position after learning that FIFA has given its 211 member federations 53 days to accept the $40 million required to approve the plan, as reported by The Times on Wednesday.
“Today we learned of the deadline FIFA has set for federations to support its proposals or else the one-time payment offer will be withdrawn. This says it all about this plan,” UEFA said in a statement on the eve of the meeting.
“Having held discussions with numerous stakeholders in the football world, UEFA knows there is significant and growing opposition to FIFA’s plan. FIFA cannot continue to use our sport to enrich itself and its friends. We can grow football the right way. It is time to prioritize federations, clubs, leagues, players, and fans,” it added.
UEFA was the first body to question FIFA’s idea, which was revealed in the press before FIFA itself made it public on Tuesday afternoon, with a strongly worded statement asserting that “this crosses a line that institutions governing football should never cross.”
The organization headed by Slovenian Alexander Ceferin, who is a FIFA vice president and a member of the Council that must approve the measure, warned that it “takes FIFA’s commercial initiative very seriously.
” “The same should be true for all national football federations. And the same should be true for all stakeholders: leagues, clubs, players, fans, governments, and all those concerned about the future of this sport. The soul and governance of football are not assets to be traded, especially with zero transparency about who benefits financially. None of us owns football. It is not up to FIFA to sell it,” he warned.
UEFA’s criticism was echoed by other confederations such as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and CONCACAF, whose presidents, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Victor Montigliani of Canada, respectively, are FIFA vice presidents and also members of the FIFA Council that must vote. EFE
