California [US], July 31 : CONCACAF and its 41 member associations on Thursday rejected FIFA's proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup's commercial rights but stopped short of joining UEFA's proposed boycott of the tournament.
The governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean said its members had raised "deep concerns" over the proposal, citing a lack of due process, an unusually short consultation period, and the absence of review or approval by FIFA's relevant governance bodies.
"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 organisation 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," CONCACAF said in a statement.
"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 programmes following the most profitable FIFA World Cup in history was questioned," the statement further added.
FIFA, on Tuesday, had announced that it was seeking to launch FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to bring together the sale of FIFA's commercial rights, right from broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing, with the operational delivery of its tournaments.
Under this proposal, FIFA would raise up to 4.2 billion USD (3.1 billion pounds) via external investors through the sale of minority, non-controlling stakes in FFE, which FIFA says will be valued at around 20 billion USD (15 billion pounds).
UEFA, the governing body of European football, on Thursday also said its member associations have unanimously voted to boycott the FIFA World Cup and all other FIFA competitions in protest against FIFA's plan to sell stakes in a subsidiary that will manage the global governing body's tournaments.