Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa welcomed FIFA's decision to abandon plans to sell World Cup shares and stressed the need for any such moves to be discussed transparently in the future, BTA reported.
FIFA's plan was to raise up to $4.2 billion by selling about a 20% stake to private investors in a new unit - or corporation - that would manage FIFA events, including the World Cup - the biggest sporting event ever.
The proposal, first announced on Tuesday, has met fierce opposition from regional confederations, individual countries, leading world politicians, football legends, as well as UEFA and the AFC, who in turn said they were surprised by the move.
Following a sharp reaction from all sides, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said early this morning that the world football federation had cancelled the plans after having “listened carefully to all opinions“.
In a letter published on the AFC website, Sheikh Salman expressed his expectation that “any initiative that has the potential to impact world 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 world football must always be shaped through appropriate consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our sport“, he said he.
Two days ago he sent another letter to the countries of the Asia region, explaining that the way FIFA was acting “on this issue was completely unacceptable“.