Salman stakes FIFA claim as Infantino opposition broadens beyond Europe

AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has joined UEFA and Concacaf in challenging Gianni Infantino over FIFA’s finances and governance, bringing one of world football’s most influential confederations deeper into the dispute surrounding the president.Salman has backed calls for FIFA to distribute at least US$10m to each of its 211 member associations from reserves expected to reach around US$6bn, rather than seeking outside capital through the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.Salman also signed a recent open letter with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani criticising FIFA’s response to the FFE controversy.The letter said: “There is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness.”His intervention is particularly significant because Salman is not merely another confederation president. He challenged Infantino directly for the FIFA presidency in 2016 and remains a FIFA vice-president with substantial influence across Asian football.Salman lost that election to Infantino by 115 votes to 88 in the second round, after entering the contest with an extensive governance reform programme.That platform included splitting FIFA’s football governance and commercial operations into separate structures, creating what he described as “Football FIFA” and “Business FIFA”.Salman argued at the time that separating the generation and distribution of money from football governance was necessary to restore accountability after the corruption crisis that engulfed FIFA under Sepp Blatter.More than a decade later, that proposal has fresh relevance as FIFA faces questions over how FFE was developed and whether its most valuable commercial rights should ever have been exposed to private investment.Infantino has now proposed asking the FIFA Council to consider an independent external review of governance processes and a structured consultation over future decision-making.The political landscape nevertheless remains unsettled.Infantino intends to seek another term on March 18, 2027, while potential challengers have until November 18 to enter the race. UEFA has said it is working to identify a credible candidate but has stressed that person does not have to come from Europe.Salman has not declared a presidential bid but his decision to align the AFC with UEFA and Concacaf on both governance concerns and the proposed US$2.11bn reserve distribution nevertheless gives the opposition to Infantino a significantly broader geographical base.The next major test comes at the FIFA Council meeting on October 15, when governance reform, FIFA’s reserves and the fallout from FFE are all expected to return to the agenda.