Baku: UEFA on Saturday stated that FIFA's current leadership has lost the confidence of much of the football community, while welcoming the withdrawal of controversial plans by the world governing body to sell a stake in its competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, to private investors.

According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, UEFA, European football's governing body, expressed that the current FIFA leadership has lost not only UEFA's confidence but also that of many other members of the football community. The proposal to sell a stake in its competitions was "unanimously rejected" by UEFA's member associations as well as by many other federations and confederations globally.

UEFA extended its gratitude to fans, leagues, clubs, players, national associations, and confederations, along with political leaders and commentators, for their opposition to the proposal. "Football is not for sale," UEFA declared, criticizing the process behind the proposal and emphasizing that football cannot continue with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, devised by faceless individuals.

Further criticism was directed at FIFA President Gianni Infantino for failing to deliver on commitments made during his 2016 election campaign, which included promises of transparency and using FIFA's financial resources for the development of football. UEFA announced its intention to collaborate with its member associations and other confederations to understand how the proposal emerged and to prevent similar initiatives in the future.

"This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story," UEFA stated, emphasizing that while the proposal is withdrawn, the task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has just begun.