FIFA plan is 'attack on football', DFB official says

German FA vice-president Hans-Joachim Watzke has criticised FIFA's plan to sell stakes in its competitions, including the World Cup, calling it "an outright attack on football".

FIFA announced Tuesday that it intended to create a semi-private subsidiary to sell part of its business operations in the World Cup and other competitions, hoping to raise $4.2 billion. The proposal still needs approval from the 38-member FIFA council and a majority of its 211 member associations.

Watzke, who is also president of Borussia Dortmund and a vice-president of UEFA's executive committee, told Kicker that many in European football saw FIFA's plans as an attack on the game.

"I share this view. A line has been crossed here," he said. Watzke said there was broad agreement among member associations, citing conversations with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and others.

He said European football could carry significant weight if it stood united against the proposal, noting that European teams made up six of the eight World Cup quarter-finalists and three of the four semi-finalists.

UEFA has criticised the proposal as a proposed sale of the game's "soul". CONCACAF, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, said it was "deeply concerned by the lack of due process".

The Asian Football Confederation also criticised the process, saying a matter of such significance should have been examined through established governance channels before becoming public. England's Football Association has voiced major concerns.

FIFA has said it would retain sole control of the proposed subsidiary and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, the match calendar and all regulatory and sporting decisions.