Qatar Football Association criticizes its Asian counterpart and calls for "transparency and consultation"

Doha (AFP) – The Qatar Football Association (QFA) criticized its Asian counterpart on Saturday, stating that any collective position “must be based on prior consultation,” in response to a joint statement issued by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in partnership with UEFA and CONCACAF, which attacked FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his controversial plan to create a commercial company.

Last Monday, the three continental confederations published an “open letter to the football family,” asserting that football “does not belong to anyone” and that leadership “is not about holding or claiming power, but rather a duty of service to the football family.”

The project, which FIFA later announced it would abandon, involved creating a company named “FIFA Forward Enterprise,” an entity open to private-sector investors tasked with managing FIFA’s commercial activities and events.

In response to the AFC, the QFA issued a statement through its media director, calling for “a written clarification regarding the consultation process that preceded the issuance of the statement,” and seeking to understand “the mechanism for informing or consulting member national associations, and the basis on which the AFC spoke collectively on behalf of its members.”

QFA President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani emphasized in the statement that “the Qatar Football Association was not consulted, either formally or informally, prior to the issuance of the statement.”

He added, “Nor did it receive any prior notice or draft of the statement, nor was it given the opportunity to comment or contribute to its content before it was published in the name of the Asian Football Confederation and on behalf of its members.”

The QFA stressed “the importance of adhering to sound institutional procedures and standards of governance and transparency,” noting that “the issuance of a statement speaking on behalf of AFC members without consulting them raises questions about the mechanism used in adopting such positions.”

The federation also affirmed “the necessity of applying principles of transparency and consultation consistently, in order to preserve the credibility of the AFC and enhance trust among its members.”