Uefa, Concacaf and AFC push for Infantino to quit and discuss rival competitions
Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf have issued a scathing open letter calling for Gianni Infantino to resign as Fifa president, marking a dramatic escalation in the crisis triggered by his failed Football Forward Enterprise scheme. The three confederations accused Infantino of "trust broken through deception" and said his response to the scandal showed a failure of judgment rather than merely a communication problem, warning that his continued leadership threatens the unity of world football.
The letter, signed by Uefa's Aleksander Ceferin, AFC's Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa and Concacaf's Victor Montagliani, condemned the unilateral launch of the scheme, which reportedly involved attempting to sell an interest in the Fifa World Cup. The confederations are also understood to be exploring rival competitions amid Uefa's threats to boycott Fifa events, potentially leaving European teams absent from next month's under-20 women's World Cup. They have called for an independent review outside football's own institutions, and Montagliani is seen as a leading contender to succeed Infantino.
- Uefa, AFC and Concacaf demand Infantino's resignation over failed scheme
- Confederations discuss rival competitions and possible Fifa boycotts
- Montagliani seen as frontrunner to replace Infantino as Fifa president
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those pressing for change argue that football's governance should remain collegial rather than concentrated in one office, and that a president answerable to the sport's global federations must not sideline the very confederations that make up Fifa. They point to decisions on the calendar, the expanded Club World Cup and new competitions taken with what they see as insufficient consultation, arguing that legitimate leadership requires building consensus rather than presenting confederations with a fait accompli. For them, the open letter is a principled defence of a federated, checks-and-balances model of running the world game, not a personal attack on any individual.
The case against
Infantino's defenders would counter that decisive, centralised leadership has delivered tangible gains for football worldwide, including record Fifa revenues, an expanded World Cup that brings more nations into the finals, and increased development funding channelled to smaller and poorer member associations who might otherwise be overlooked by powerful confederations. They may see this coordinated push from Uefa, the AFC and Concacaf less as disinterested governance reform and more as an assertion of regional power by confederation presidents keen to protect their own influence and revenue streams against a Fifa administration that has, in their view, successfully modernised and grown the sport on a genuinely global basis.