—- FIFA president Gianni Infantino suffered another rebuff in his bid to sell out the world football federation and the World Cup when CONCACAF rejected his investor-fuelled proposal.

Significantly, the membership of the central and north American confederation includes the three cohosts of the recently-concluded finals: Canada, Mexico and the United States.

CONCACAF head Victor Montagliani – one of the confederation presidents blindsided by Infantino – is Victor Montagliani, one of the senior vice-presidents of FIFA.

A comprehensive statement effectively questioned how FIFA planned to use the $15bn generated by the finals and rapped Infantino over the knuckles for going rogue.

The statement said: 

Concacaf is a confederation united by the love of our game, where football comes first. Guided by this philosophy over the past ten years we have built, from the ground up, an organization founded on service, transparent governance, and the long-term stewardship of football. History has shown FIFA and the football family what happens when the custodians of the game lose sight of these values.

With this in mind, Concacaf today convened a meeting of the presidents of its 41 Member Associations, together with its President, Council members, and its FIFA Council members, to discuss a proposal developed and presented by the FIFA President to establish ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ and sell interests in the FIFA World Cup to private investors.

During the meeting, the membership expressed deep concerns about the lack of due process surrounding the proposal, the artificially short deadline imposed, and the absence of any review or approval by the relevant FIFA governance bodies. In addition, the need for private equity investment to fund new and existing FIFA Forward programs following the most profitable FIFA World Cup in history was questioned.

The discussion reinforced the need for greater transparency and proper governance.

For these reasons, Concacaf and its 41 Member Associations have:

  • Rejected the proposal;
  • Tasked their FIFA Council Members with engaging FIFA to determine how existing vast FIFA reserves could be used to increase FIFA Forward funding for football development across our region; and
  • Tasked their FIFA Council Members with instructing the FIFA President to ensure that any matter follows the proper governance processes via staff and FIFA Council, in accordance with the FIFA Statutes.

Through these actions, Concacaf reaffirms that football’s future—and its greatest asset—must remain in the hands of our football family.

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