Qatar challenges AFC stance in growing Infantino crisis

pOpen divisions have emerged inside Asian football after the Qatar Football Association challenged the Asian Football Confederation over its participation in an open letter criticising FIFA president Gianni Infantino and questioned how the position was taken on behalf of member associations./ppQFA president Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said in a letter to the AFC president that neither he nor the Qatari association had been consulted or informed in advance before the joint statement issued with UEFA and CONCACAF./ppThe statement was part of a wider crisis surrounding a previous proposal to bring private investment into the commercial rights of FIFA competitions, a plan that was later withdrawn following widespread opposition over its governance and consultation process./ppQatar asked the AFC to explain the basis on which it considered itself authorised to speak collectively for its members. The AFC had not issued a detailed public response to the challenge at the time of writing, leaving the dispute open to further developments./p