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August 18 – Asian football boss Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa has pushed back against the Qatar Football Association (QFA) over his alignment with UEFA and Concacaf against Gianni Infantino. The rift over the FIFA president’s future in Asia has escalated further with Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Salman defending his authority and leadership in a forthright letter to the QFA, who remain loyal to Infantino. The FIFA President remainsheavily embattled following his aborted plans to sell a stake in the World Cup. “I have both the authority and the responsibility to act decisively to safeguard the AFC and Asian football’s position when matters of fundamental importance to … Asian football arise,” wrote Salman, as quoted by Reuters. “This is in line with the legal mandate given to me in the AFC’s constitution … Its President has a responsibility to protect the interests and values of the sport. “In circumstances such as those giving rise to the joint statement, it would be inconsistent with that responsibility for the AFC to remain silent.” Last week, the AFC aligned with UEFA and Concacaf, issuing a joint letter that emphasized Infantino’s position at FIFA is no longer tenable. However, the QFA President Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani attacked the continental confederation over its position, arguing that the QFA had not been consulted before the joint letter was published. Al-Thani serves as an AFC executive committee member and FIFA Council member. The letter read: “A collective view must first be ascertained; it cannot be presumed, and it cannot be brought into existence by declaration.” Salman was stinging in his remarks, pointing out that the AFC had backed Qatar as 2022 World Cup hosts when the Gulf nation faced global criticism over its treatment of migrant workers. He said: “I do not recall the QFA previously raising any procedural objection when the established protocol served its immediate interests. “I therefore find it difficult to reconcile the sudden and selective criticism contained in the QFA Letter with the QFA’s historical acceptance of this general practice in other circumstances and its benefit from the same.” Salman argued that the QFA’s stance and actions “disrupt the unity of Asian football”. The public spat highlights the fractures and friction in Asia over the future of FIFA’s leadership. Qatar has been a major backer of both the AFC and FIFA. In 2023, the Gulf country staged the Asian Cup and both Qatar Airways and Aspetar serve as sponsors of the continental confederation. A year earlier, Qatar welcomed the first World Cup to the Middle East. Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at [email protected]