Qatar still not satisfied with Asia chief over Infantino letter

The Qatar Football Association (QFA) remains dissatisfied with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) over the conduct of FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Infantino, who is seeking re-election next year, faced criticism after an open letter was signed with UEFA and CONCACAF, attacking his conduct over the proposed private investment in the World Cup and questioning his leadership.

In response, QFA President Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani accused the AFC of not consulting with its members, including Qatar, prior to issuing the statement. He emphasized that the AFC's reply only addressed the substance of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal and FIFA's conduct, but did not address the lack of consultation.

The QFA's main complaint was that the FFE proposal was developed without consulting the confederations and was pitched directly to FIFA's 211 member associations. This exchange between the QFA and AFC is unusual, as the AFC typically prefers to handle matters behind closed doors. In contrast, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa denied that he had exceeded his authority in signing the joint letter and slammed Qatar for focusing on technicalities rather than the good of the game.

Al-Thani, a member of the FIFA Council and a QFA executive committee member, maintained that Sheikh Salman did not have the authority to speak on behalf of the 47 AFC member associations without their authorization.