UPDATED: All 55 UEFA member associations have voted to boycott FIFA soccer competitions – including the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup – if FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s proposal to sell stakes in its competitions to private investors is approved by member associations, according to BBC Sport. The decision came out of an emergency meeting Thursday, days after FIFA announced the plans Tuesday. The first test of the stance arrives in October, when the Women’s World Cup play-offs are scheduled.
UEFA released a statement after the meeting:
“UEFA and its 55 member associations stand as one. 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.
It is both irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation with those entrusted with stewarding the game. This is not merely a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of FIFA’s duty as the custodian of world football.
National associations around the world are now presented with an ultimatum: accept the irreversible capture of football’s greatest competitions or bear the consequences. This is not a “democratic decision”, but governance by intimidation – an act of coercion unworthy of an institution entrusted with the stewardship of the global game.
But our opposition goes far beyond process.
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.
This model has no place in world football. Football’s future cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return. Nor can the interests of national associations, leagues, clubs, players and supporters become subordinate to investor returns. Football cannot mortgage its future for financial gain.
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.”
PREVIOUSLY: Opposition is growing in the soccer world to a plan by the sport’s governing body, FIFA, to spin off its events, principally the World Cup, as a separate commercial entity and invite investors to take a stake in it.
The new company, FIFA Forward Enterprise, has been valued at about $20 billion. FIFA would seek to sell a roughly 20% stake in the entity. Among the potential investors is Thrive Eternal, led by Joshua Kushner, brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, according to the Financial Times.
Among the opponents of the plan are the sport’s governing bodies in North America and Europe.
Concacaf, which runs soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, said it was “deeply concerned by the lack of due process” when the plan was conceived. The federation said it was disappointed that the plan has been revealed “before any discussion with the relevant governance bodies and stakeholders has taken place.”
UEFA, which runs the sport in Europe, said FIFA’s plan “crosses a line that [soccer’s] governing institutions should never cross.” It added, “The soul and governance of [soccer] are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of [soccer]. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”
UEFA is fast-tracking efforts to hold an emergency meeting of its member associations this week, sources told ESPN, to discuss plans, including a potential World Cup boycott.
The FIFA plan is subject to ratification by its 211 national member associations. Concacaf represents 41 members, while UEFA has 55.
Under the plan, funds raised from the sale of a stake in FIFA Forward Enterprise would be used in part to increase annual payments to members from $2 million a year to $5 million. Each would also receive a one-off payment of $20 million.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement, “Every FIFA member association should have an opportunity to seek a fair share of the available funding to shape its own future, deciding for itself rather than relying on others. This is about the democratization of [soccer] worldwide.”
Among other opponents of the plan are U.K. prime minister Andy Burnham, who said, “The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.”
Much of the opposition to FIFA’s plan is focusing on the role of Infantino, and his relationship with President Trump.
Football Supporters Europe, which represents fans, said, “The World Cup is not for sale. Enough of this charade. [FIFA] member associations — and everyone who cares about the future of the game — must stand up to the man who wants to sell world [soccer].”
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