AFC president doubles down on FIFA, calling World Cup plan ‘unacceptable’

Asian Football Confederation chief slams lack of consultation over plan to sell FIFA World Cup stakes and says it undermines sport’s continental structure.Published On 30 Jul 202630 Jul 2026Asian Football Confederation ‌(AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has branded FIFA’s lack of consultation over its plan ⁠to sell stakes in ⁠the World Cup to private investors “totally unacceptable”, saying the move undermined the sport’s existing continental structure.The Bahraini’s unusually forthright comments were made in a letter sent on Thursday to ⁠the regional body’s 47 member associations, which was seen by the Reuters news agency.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Viral finger-clicker suspended as cricket storm remains in global spotlightlist 2 of 3South Africa’s le Clos breaks Commonwealth Games medal recordlist 3 of 3Storm apologize after co-owner berates teen girls for support of Cunninghamend of listFIFA on Tuesday said it planned to create a $20bn commercial subsidiary to run the World Cup and its other events, drawing ⁠criticism from regional confederations, including the AFC, which said they were blindsided by the announcement.“The AFC notes with great...