European football’s threat to boycott FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, remains firmly on the table after UEFA declared that Gianni Infantino’s latest defence of his leadership “changes nothing.”
The latest escalation comes after the English Football Association formally withdrew its support for the FIFA president following his controversial proposal to sell minority stakes in the World Cup and other major tournaments to private investors.
Although FIFA has now abandoned the plan after widespread backlash, UEFA insists its concerns extend far beyond the failed proposal.
In a strongly worded statement, European football’s governing body said the conditions it had demanded had not been met.
“First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.”
“These conditions have not been met.”
UEFA has repeatedly stated that it has lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership, previously describing the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project as a “shabby, back room, opaque deal.”
The governing body also dismissed FIFA’s attempt to defend the president after Wednesday’s meeting, where world football’s governing body admitted mistakes had been made in handling the proposal.
“UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds.”
“Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA president (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing.”
FIFA acknowledged that member associations should not have felt excluded from discussions surrounding the proposed commercial venture, saying it had never intended to sideline its stakeholders.
The abandoned plan would have created a commercial subsidiary valued at $20 billion, with minority stakes offered to private investors while FIFA retained majority ownership. Infantino had also offered member associations $40 million (£30 million) each if they backed the proposal.
With UEFA maintaining its hard-line stance and several European associations still deeply dissatisfied, the possibility of a boycott of future FIFA competitions remains unresolved despite the withdrawal of the controversial investment proposal.
