Zurich: All 55 UEFA member associations have unanimously backed a boycott of FIFA competitions if world football's governing body proceeds with plans to sell stakes in its tournaments to private investors, according to a statement issued after an emergency meeting on Thursday.
According to Anadolu Agency, UEFA declared that its member associations "stand as one" and have "unanimously and unequivocally" rejected FIFA's proposal to transfer ownership interests in the FIFA World Cup and other competitions to private investors. The statement highlighted that no UEFA national teams would participate in any FIFA competition as long as these proposals persist unless the proposal is completely abandoned and binding assurances are provided that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.
UEFA further emphasized that the World Cup should not be treated as an investment product, describing it as one of football's greatest sporting legacies that should never be surrendered to private investors. "The World Cup is not for sale," UEFA asserted.
The European governing body also criticized FIFA's handling of the proposal, characterizing it as "conceived in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation" with football stakeholders. UEFA condemned this as not merely a profound failure of leadership but an abdication of FIFA's duty as the custodian of world football.
The emergency meeting was convened in response to mounting opposition to FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a commercial subsidiary intended to oversee the World Cup and other commercial operations. Earlier this week, FIFA stated that FFE would remain majority-owned and controlled by FIFA, with outside investors holding only a minority stake and having no role in football governance or sporting decisions. The governing body assured that the proposal aims to increase development funding for its 211 member associations and would only proceed if approved by a majority of them.