Amid a major scandal over the sale of commercial rights to World Cup tournaments, the United States Soccer Federation has called for significant changes in FIFA's governance structure, according to infohub.kz.
A joint statement published on U.S. Soccer's X account was signed by the U.S. Soccer Federation, the Canadian Soccer Association, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), and the Central American Football Union (UNCAF). In it, they call for strengthening FIFA's governance, increasing transparency and accountability.
Additionally, as reported by RIA Sport, on Monday the leadership of UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) published an open letter criticizing FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The organizations demanded an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the preparation of the deal to sell part of FIFA's commercial rights.
Earlier, FIFA had formed a project to sell the rights to the men's, women's, and club World Cups to private investors. In response, all members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) declared a boycott of FIFA tournaments until the initiative is fully abandoned. UEFA's position was supported by the American and Asian confederations, which also accused FIFA of lacking transparency in shaping the new commercial concept.
Amid the scandal, it became known that a FIFA president's advisor resigned in protest. UEFA even developed a plan to hold its own version of the World Cup. Subsequently, FIFA abandoned the controversial plan to sell World Cup rights.
Recently, FIFA's leadership expressed support for Infantino and acknowledged mistakes in the World Cup rights sale project. FIFA also stated that there were attempts to undermine Gianni Infantino's authority.