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European countries will boycott the next World Cup if Fifa presses ahead with plans to spin out a new commercial entity and sell a stake to investors, in a radical move that could deal a fatal blow to the controversial proposals.
Uefa’s 55 members made the decision at an emergency meeting held online on Thursday in response to plans unveiled earlier this week by Fifa.
Europe’s football governing body said that none of its 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”.
The decision by Uefa, led by Aleksander Čeferin, is likely to derail plans drawn up by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, which involved selling off 20 per cent of a new venture valued at about $20bn.
World football’s global governing body said it planned to use the proceeds to funnel more money to its 211 member associations, including upfront payments of $20mn each.
The proposals have drawn sharp criticism from politicians, supporters’ groups and some of football’s regional governing bodies.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product”, Uefa said, adding that its members had “unanimously and unequivocally” rejected Fifa’s plans. “No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”
Uefa holds a particularly influential position as its members include many of the world’s strongest footballing nations, including Spain, France and England, without whom a World Cup would be less marketable to investors. European countries have won five of the last six men’s World Cup competitions.
The next women’s World Cup is due to take place in 2027 in Brazil. Spain are the reigning world champions. The next men’s tournament is not until 2030 but is set to be staged by Spain and Portugal — both Uefa members — alongside Morocco.
The boycott is the most serious rupture between the two most powerful governing bodies in football, who have long been at odds over how the game is run.
Of the 55 members, 40 spoke during the online meeting, according to a person on the call, with all expressing their backing for the boycott.
England’s Football Association said: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our European colleagues and fully support the collective view.”
Concacaf, which governs the game in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, has also called an emergency meeting of its 41 members on Thursday afternoon to discuss the plans.
Opposition to Fifa’s plans has been growing since they were unveiled on Tuesday, with domestic leagues, fan groups, players’ unions and lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic voicing concerns.
Glenn Micallef, EU commissioner for sport, who this week said Brussels would use its antitrust powers to investigate Fifa’s proposal, said he supported Uefa’s statement.
He said he was “proud to see Europe’s football associations leading on governance, standing firm on their principles and defending the integrity of the game”.
Fifa has pitched the commercial spin-off as a way to bring billions of dollars into the game, which would then be distributed across its 211 members. Each member has been offered a one-off amount of $20mn plus a doubling of annual payments to $5mn if they approve the scheme in a vote on September 19.
Thrive Eternal, a fund run by Joshua Kushner — brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared — has been lined up as the lead investor.
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