Qatar FA tells AFC its Infantino letter still leaves ‘more questions’

The Qatar Football Association has renewed its dispute with the Asian Football Confederation, saying member associations were not consulted before the AFC signed a joint letter criticising FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

The letter, issued with UEFA and Concacaf, questioned Infantino’s handling of an unsuccessful attempt to attract private investment to the FIFA World Cup and raised wider concerns about his leadership. Infantino is preparing to stand for re-election next year and has faced unprecedented criticism over the issue.

In the latest exchange in an increasingly public dispute, Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, president of the Qatar Football Association and one of Infantino’s most prominent supporters, said the AFC’s response to his original complaint had “raised far more questions than it answered”.

The correspondence has been seen by Reuters. Such exchanges between senior officials are rarely made public within the AFC, which has traditionally preferred to handle internal disagreements away from the spotlight.

In his letter, Al Thani wrote: “The AFC’s response amounts to an admission that there was no consultation, whether with the AFC Executive Committee, the member associations or through any other mechanism, before issuing the statement in its name.”

He added: “Regardless of how comprehensively the AFC response addresses the FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative, FIFA’s conduct or precedents relating to AFC statements, none of that answers the central question posed: were the member associations consulted before the statement was issued in their name? The answer is: they were not.”

One of the principal criticisms of the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal was that it had been developed without consultation with the continental confederations before being presented directly to FIFA’s 211 member associations.

Qatar was one of six Asian national associations to declare support for Infantino during the early stages of the dispute, which intensified after the proposal failed.

AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa rejected what he described as “allegations” that he had exceeded his authority by signing the joint statement in a letter sent last Tuesday.

The Bahraini official said he had “the authority and responsibility” to take the necessary steps to defend the interests of Asian football. He also criticised the Qatar Football Association for focusing on procedural and technical matters “instead of the broader interests of the game”.

Al Thani, however, repeated his view that Sheikh Salman did not have the authority to speak on behalf of the AFC’s 47 member associations without their prior approval or authorisation. He said the AFC president’s powers were defined by the confederation’s Executive Committee.

Al Thani is a member of the FIFA Council and also sits on the AFC Executive Committee.

Sheikh Salman had also pointed to previous statements issued by AFC presidents on matters considered important to the continent. Those included support for Qatar while it hosted the 2022 World Cup amid international criticism and pressure.

Al Thani responded: “Any statements issued in support of the 2022 World Cup reflected the institutional interest of the AFC in ensuring the successful staging of the tournament in Asia.”

He concluded his letter: “Unfortunately, the AFC response cannot be considered a satisfactory answer to the legitimate and important questions raised by the Qatar Football Association.”