Football Australia chair Anter Isaac has played down concerns around the controversial World Cup privatisation push engineered by Gianni Infantino ahead of a meeting of Asian confederation officials in Tokyo this week. Isaac’s sentiments come amid a global rebound in support for the embattled Fifa president, who at one stage appeared unlikely to be able to continue in his role following criticism led by officials in Europe and North America. The Swiss lawyer now enjoys backing from South America, Africa and growing chunks of Asia, which would represent a bloc large enough for him to win March’s Fifa presidential election.
Continental powerbrokers are converging on Tokyo this week for the Asian Football Confederation congress. Fifa’s leadership and governance do not form part of the formal meeting agenda, but will be discussed by those present alongside the likelihood of January’s Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia going ahead. Isaac, the most senior football official in Australia, was asked about the situation at Fifa in an episode of a little-known sports business You Tube channel earlier this month that has been viewed fewer than 200 times.
He was adamant that the intentions and motivations of people in football are “always in the best interests” of the sport. Everyone, at least in my experience and my interactions with them, that’s not even a question. So where has it become misaligned?
Maybe it is in approach, maybe in communications and so forth.” FA’s previous statement on the controversial proposal dubbed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), issued in August, called for “clear and credible action” but stopped short of calling for Infantino’s resignation. It was broadly in line with a letter co-signed by Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa which demanded from Fifa “leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it”. Since then Salman appears to have softened his stance against Infantino, instead calling for strengthened Fifa governance, as a growing bloc of Asian nations including Qatar and the UAE indicate support for the Fifa president.
Isaac said people will criticise bodies like Fifa, AFC and Uefa but will not have the same knowledge of those within the system. I have a lot more information. I see a lot more that happens,” he said.
The missive follows last week’s meeting of the Fifa council in Zurich, the first since FFE came to light. Infantino listened to questions there, but declined to provide comprehensive answers, and called for questions in writing to be submitted before the next meeting in Doha on 16 December. Isaac said it was “premature” to talk about whether he would support Infantino at next year’s election.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
