UEFA Threatens Boycott of FIFA Competitions Over Proposed Private Investment Plan
Islamabad: UEFA has warned that all 55 European member football associations could boycott FIFA competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup, if FIFA does not withdraw its proposed plan to allow private investors to acquire stakes in its global competitions.
The warning came in a joint statement issued after an emergency virtual meeting chaired by UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, during which all 55 member associations unanimously rejected FIFA’s proposal.
UEFA stated that the FIFA World Cup is not a commercial investment product but one of football’s greatest global legacies, built by generations of players, national teams, and fans around the world.
The European governing body criticized FIFA for allegedly developing such a significant proposal without meaningful consultation with key stakeholders, describing the process as inconsistent with the responsibilities of world football’s governing body.
According to the statement, allowing private investors to hold stakes in FIFA competitions could lead to future decisions regarding the international football calendar, tournament formats, and other major issues being driven by investors’ financial interests rather than the interests of the sport.
UEFA said it would not allow the commercialization of football’s premier international tournaments and insisted that European national teams would not participate in any FIFA competition unless the proposal is completely withdrawn and FIFA guarantees that private ownership will not be introduced into its competitions or governance structure.
Meanwhile, FIFA has recently proposed establishing a new subsidiary company to manage its major commercial and event-related activities, allowing outside investors to acquire minority stakes.
According to British media reports, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has reportedly offered member associations financial incentives of up to US$40 million in support of the proposal, with September 19 set as the deadline for approval.
