'Never for sale': European nations vow World Cup boycott over FIFA equity plan

European nations vow World Cup boycott over FIFA private investors plan Fri 31 Jul 2026 at 7:20am In short: UEFA's 55 member nations have threatened to boycott the World Cup and other competitions unless a plan to sell 20 per cent of FIFA's commercial operations is not abandoned. Football nations have been given until mid-September to agree to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino's plan to access tens of millions of dollars in extra funds each over the next four to 12 years. The CONCACAF (Americas and Caribbean) federation also rejected the proposal, while Asia's football chief warned the plan threatened to undermine the foundations of continental football. European nations have agreed to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions in protest over president Gianni Infantino's plan to sell stakes in soccer's biggest tournament to private equity investors. "UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions," the European soccer body said after an urgent online meeting of its 55 member nations. On a seismic day in soccer politics, support in Asia and CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) for FIFA and Mr Infantino was also shaken. The next scheduled FIFA tournament is within weeks in Europe — the Women's Under-20 World Cup hosted by Poland from September 5 — and the four British federations comprise FIFA's only bidder to host the 2035 Women's World Cup. That decision is due November 23. "Some things are simply too important to sell," UEFA said in a statement. "The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale." The strategy meeting was called to counter Mr Infantino's offer of $US20 million ($28.45 million) to each of FIFA's 211 global members that has to be accepted by mid-September. Mr Infantino's secret project was revealed on Tuesday to spin off its commercial operations in a new $US20 billion ($28.45 billion) subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), 20 per cent owned by private investors. The core investor would be a New York investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Mr Infantino wrote to the 211 members — already the effective owners of FIFA as a non-profit association under Swiss law — that if they approve FFE, their promised $US10 million basic funding for the next four years will double to $US20 million. He projected their FIFA funding through 2038 would be $US86 million ($122 million) each, instead of about $US36 million ($51 million). "This is not merely a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of FIFA's duty as the custodian of world football," said UEFA, where Mr Infantino was a staffer and its CEO-like general secretary when he was first elected to lead FIFA in 2016. Mr Infantino's high-stakes gambit now could threaten his previously secure 11-year presidency of FIFA as anger and frustration with him rise among soccer stakeholders, including three of the six continental bodies. FIFA has set a November 18 deadline for potential candidates to declare in a presidential vote of the 211 members scheduled next March in Rabat, Morocco. Mr Infantino had seemed after the World Cup to have a clear path to being re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term in office through 2031, despite a furore over letting United States forward Folarin Balogun play against Belgium despite a red card in his previous game. "Game over, Gianni #InfantinOUT," the Football Supporters Europe group, which advises UEFA on fan issues such as ticket prices, posted after the boycott threat. UEFA detailed why soccer officials fear external investors owning a stake in the global game's biggest events, including World Cups and Club World Cups for men and women. "The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever," UEFA said. "Commercial return becomes a permanent obligation. Investor expectations become a daily pressure." Mr Infantino has presented the private equity offer as a chance to "turbocharge" funding development of soccer across the world, where a majority of the 211 FIFA members rely on its funding. Officials from about 40 UEFA members spoke at the urgent meeting, with anger expressed that FIFA is not using some of its multi-billion-dollar reserves to fund extra development programs. "As a result of today's discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive," the European soccer body said, "unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership." CONCACAF also released a statement saying its organisation was built on service, "transparent governance, and the long-term stewardship of football". "History has shown FIFA and the football family what happens when the custodians of the game lose sight of these values," it said. Deep concerns were raised about the lack of due process, the short deadline imposed, the lack of review or approval by relevant bodies, and the need for private investment to fund programs. "For these reasons, CONCACAF and its 41 Member Associations have rejected the proposal." The associations called on their FIFA Council Members to engage FIFA to determine how existing FIFA reserves could be used to increase FIFA Forward funding for football development across our region, and urged that all matters follow proper governance processes. CONCACAF did not threaten a boycott of FIFA competitions. However, Europe's 55 associations and CONCACAF's 41 would make nearly half of the 211 total votes available. "FIFA's unilateral actions appear to undermine the very foundations of continental football," the Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said in a letter to its 46 members of FIFA, warning of risks to their own competitions. Sheikh Salman, an ally of Mr Infantino since losing the FIFA presidential election to him in 2016, wrote: "Such an initiative will not succeed without the support of all the confederations, which is not the case now." In a video message published Wednesday by FIFA, Infantino insisted spinning off its money-making operations was "an offer, not an obligation." A FIFA presentation for its members, co-written with its banking advisors from J.P. Morgan and seen by the AP, set a goal for FFE as "commercial rigour and expertise to better capitalise on broadcast rights, sponsorships and a growing tournament portfolio." That growing portfolio likely would include adding more teams to FIFA competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup for men and women, and potentially staging them more often than every four years, including in the U.S. FIFA adding teams, games and competitions would squeeze the value, status and space in the congested global fixture calendar for those that fund and are organised by the six continental soccer bodies like UEFA and the AFC. A threatened World Cup boycott from Europe helped derail Mr Infantino's plan in 2021 to play World Cups every two years instead of four. AP/ABC