Agency Report
The Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, has announced it will boycott the World Cup if FIFA proceeds with its plan to sell of stake in its competitions to private investors.
The European football governing body reached the decision at its emergency meeting on Thursday.
All 55 member associations unanimously agreed to the decision announced by UEFA on its website.
President of FIFA Gianni Infantino had announced plans to allow a third party investor to make minority, non-controlling investments into FIFA competitions through its Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE).
An American company has been identified by FIFA to make the investment that would hand it commercial control of competitions, while Infantino assured member federations of $40 million dollars largesse if the plan is approved by the FIFA Congress.
UEFA previously frowned at the revelation by Infantino, and called an emergency meeting where it said members ejected the transfer of “ownership interests” in global football to “private investors.”
According to UEFA, whose president Aleksander Ceferin, shockingly failed to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup final won by Spain, its member country, the private investors should not be allowed in FIFA, and that the World Cup is not for sale.
“UEFA and its 55 member associations stand as one,” the statement read. “We unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. It has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent.
“No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”
UEFA added that the presence of private investment in FIFA, a not-for-profit organization, will commercialize the World Cup. It added football will no longer serve the major stakeholders including players and fans, but shareholders as return on investment becomes the driving force for decisions.
“The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever. Commercial return becomes a permanent obligation. Investor expectations become a daily pressure.
“From that moment onwards, every decision on the international calendar, every decision on competition formats and every decision shaping the future of football is no longer driven by what best serves the game, but by what best serves shareholders.”
UEFA’s scathing went further by declaring that Europe will never support any commercialization plan, emphasising that it “has no place in world football” and it should not be the driving force of football. It added that the European nations will not participate in FIFA competitions if the proposal “remains alive” as the FIFA World Cup belongs to football and is too important to sell.
“Europe’s position is clear. We will never lend this model our legitimacy. No one has the moral authority to sell what they merely hold in trust for the next generation.
“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, 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.
“Nobody should be in any doubt: UEFA and its national associations will oppose these plans with absolute determination.
“There are moments when institutions are judged not by what they are prepared to accept, but by what they refuse to compromise. This is one of those moments.
“Some things are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.”
This is not the first time UEFA has issued a public threat to a new proposal in football.
It shot down the European Super League proposal of Real Madrid President Florentino Perez in 2021, and threatened the club and supporting member clubs who had approved their participation in the no-rested proposed competition with exclusion from the UEFA Champions League if they follow through with the proposal.
Perez ended the Super League dream earlier this year.
