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GENEVA: European football associations have threatened to boycott the FIFA World Cup and all other FIFA competitions in protest against a proposal by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to open the governing body’s commercial operations to private equity investment.
The warning came after an emergency online meeting of UEFA’s 55 member associations on Thursday, during which the European governing body rejected the proposal.
“UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions,” the organisation said, arguing that the FIFA World Cup “belongs to football” and should not be opened to private ownership.
FIFA responded early Friday, insisting that “nobody is selling football” and clarifying that the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) would only proceed with the support of its 211 member associations.
The governing body said it respected the concerns raised and acknowledged that media reports had caused confusion over the proposal. FIFA added that if member associations do not approve the plan, its commercial structure will remain unchanged and the FFE will not be established.
The proposal reportedly offered each FIFA member association $20 million in exchange for approving the new commercial structure by mid-September.
Later on Thursday, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) also rejected the proposal, citing concerns over the lack of due process, the short approval deadline and the absence of review by FIFA’s governance bodies.
CONCACAF also questioned the need for outside investment following what FIFA described as the most profitable World Cup in history.
The next FIFA tournament is the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup, scheduled to begin in Poland on September 5.