Concacaf, UEFA and the AFC released an open letter"to the football family" underlining concerns it has with FIFA leadership and keeping pressure on Gianni Infantino even after the FIFA president withdrew a controversial proposal to welcome private investment into the World Cup.
The 56-year-old met with the organization's secretary general and other members of the FIFA Management Committee last week in Morocco, saying after the meeting in a statement that he offered an apology to the member associations.
But the confederations' letter Monday, Aug. 10 makes clear they are not putting the matter in the past.
Infantino is not named in the letter, but it clearly references the current FIFA president and puts pressure on his position.
"Leadership in football
is not a possession. It is not about holding – or demanding – power to be held. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts it," a portion of the letter reads. "When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned."
Infantino remains the president, and no contender is yet to declare they will run against the Switzerland native in elections, which are set for March 2027.
Yet, organizations like the Norwegian Football Federation have called on Infantino to step aside before then, and the letter heaps additional pressure on FIFA to find a resolution to the situation before next year.
What did Concacaf, UEFA and AFC say about Infantino's apology?
The letter also calls into question Infantino's decision to bring some – but not all – members of the FIFA Management Committee to Morocco, rather than calling the FIFA Council or other leaders to the organization's headquarters in Switzerland.
"FIFA's own letter also confirms that only one elected official was present at the leadership meeting in Morocco. No FIFA Council members or Member Associations were invited to participate. Only the management committee, composed of FIFA-employed senior staff, was present," it reads.
"This recent meeting, where a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee – not the full Committee – were summoned abroad, rather than leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of FIFA, its staff, only reinforces these concerns and represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment. It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him.
"There is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness."
UEFA has threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions, which it said last week remains in place. That has set up the U-20 Women's World Cup, scheduled to take place Sept. 5-27 in Poland, as a potential deadline for the sides to come to a resolution.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Concacaf, AFC, UEFA send letter raising concerns about Infantino, FIFA
