Baku: All 55 UEFA member associations have unanimously backed a boycott of FIFA competitions if world football's governing body proceeds with plans to sell stakes in its tournaments to private investors, Anadolu Agency reported citing a statement issued after the UEFA's emergency meeting on Thursday.
According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, UEFA announced that its member associations 'stand as one' and have 'unanimously and unequivocally' rejected FIFA's proposal to transfer ownership interests in the FIFA World Cup and other competitions to private investors. UEFA emphasized that no national teams from its member associations will participate in any FIFA competition as long as these proposals remain active, unless there is confirmation that the proposal has been completely abandoned and assurances given that FIFA will not consider private ownership in its governance or competitions in the future.
UEFA expressed that the World Cup, as one of football's greatest sporting legacies, should not be treated as an investment product and should never be surrendered to private investors. "The World Cup is not for sale," UEFA asserted emphatically.
Furthermore, the European governing body criticized FIFA's approach to the proposal, stating it was 'conceived in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation' with football stakeholders. UEFA described this as a 'profound failure of leadership' and an 'abdication of FIFA's duty as the custodian of world football.'
The emergency meeting was convened following mounting opposition to FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a commercial subsidiary that would oversee the World Cup and other commercial operations. Earlier this week, FIFA stated that FFE would remain majority-owned and controlled by FIFA, with outside investors holding only a minority stake and having no influence over football governance or sporting decisions. FIFA claimed the proposal aimed to increase development funding for its 211 member associations and would only move forward if approved by a majority of them.