Football
Football
European and North American Federations Reject FIFA’s World Cup Investment Plan
European football’s governing body, UEFA, and its 55 member associations have declared they will boycott all FIFA competitions if President Gianni Infantino proceeds with his plan to sell a significant stake in global tournaments to private investors. This definitive stance was announced following an emergency meeting on Thursday, July 30, where the proposal, first revealed on Tuesday, was unanimously rejected. CONCACAF, representing North and Central America, also voiced its opposition to the plan.
The controversial proposal involves selling a 20% stake in a new subsidiary company, which would manage FIFA’s competitions, including the World Cup. Private investors, reportedly including Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, would part-fund this venture. UEFA stated unequivocally that the World Cup “cannot be treated as an investment product” and should not be “surrendered to private investors.”
The boycott threat, which would cover all FIFA competitions including the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup, could impact upcoming tournaments. The U20 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Poland and featuring European nations, is set to begin on September 5, just weeks before Infantino’s September 19 deadline for countries to accept the deal. Additionally, the Women’s World Cup play-offs, scheduled for October and involving nations like England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, could be affected.
The atmosphere at UEFA’s meeting was described as “venomous,” with strong sentiment against the proposals. Despite Infantino’s assertion that the plan is merely “a proposal, an offer, not an obligation,” both UEFA and CONCACAF have made their rejections clear, with the latter’s 41 member associations also rejecting the proposal after their own meeting on Thursday. The European federations plan to formally notify FIFA of their boycott threat this week, demanding the complete abandonment of the sell-off plans.
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