European federations move to rival FIFA with breakaway World Cup plan

More than 100 national football federations are holding talks to set up rival competitions to FIFA tournaments, including a parallel World Cup, in the latest escalation of a broad revolt against FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The push comes after Infantino in July unveiled a plan to sell broadcasting and hosting rights for roughly 20 percent of World Cup matches to private investors valued at around $20 billion. The proposal was withdrawn within days following strong objections from member federations, government officials and former FIFA executives. UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have all criticized the lack of transparency in the aborted privatization process. UEFA said it will maintain its planned boycott of FIFA events and has lost confidence in Infantino's leadership. CONCACAF and the AFC have also condemned FIFA but have not yet joined the boycott. The three confederations and their 142 member federations are now discussing the staging of international tournaments outside FIFA's framework and whether to press for Infantino's resignation. No further details on the proposals or a timeline were immediately available.