FIFA says all qualified teams will participate in next week’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup amid reports that UEFA is preparing to lift its boycott threat against the world governing body’s competitions.
The development comes after UEFA reportedly received guarantees that FIFA will not repeat its controversial plan to bring private investors into the commercial management of its competitions.
The guarantee was the second condition set by UEFA before European nations would withdraw their boycott threat. The first condition was the scrapping of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which FIFA abandoned on August 1.
Responding to reports that the boycott could now be lifted, a FIFA spokesperson said: “FIFA is pleased that all qualified teams will be participating in the upcoming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.”
European football associations first agreed to the boycott at an emergency meeting on July 30.
UEFA said the threat would only be withdrawn if FIFA scrapped Infantino’s proposal to seek private investment in a company that would manage World Cup commercial and ticketing rights, and provided binding guarantees that similar plans would not be pursued in the future.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino abandoned the FFE proposal two days later, but the boycott threat remained because UEFA’s second condition had not yet been fully addressed.
The latest development suggests the dispute may now be easing, with European teams expected to take part in the U-20 Women’s World Cup.
