UEFA has voted to boycott the World Cup and every other FIFA competition if football’s world governing body presses ahead with plans to sell stakes in its commercial operations to private investors.
Its 55 member associations backed the decision unanimously at an emergency online meeting on July 30. “The World Cup is not for sale,” UEFA said in a statement.
European teams would stay away for as long as the proposals remained alive, the body said, and only full abandonment and binding assurances against private ownership would lift the boycott.
FIFA announced that it would create a subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to hold broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing rights alongside the running of its tournaments.
It said it hoped to raise up to $4.2 billion (€3.7 billion) by selling more than 20 per cent of the new company, based on a valuation of $20 billion (€17.5 billion).
Each of FIFA’s 211 member associations would receive a one-off payment of $20 million (€17.5 million) in early 2027, with funding for the 2027-30 cycle rising from $8 million (€7 million) to $20 million.
Thrive Eternal, the fund launched by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investor group. Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, who is married to US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended the initiative on July 29 as a chance to accelerate the development of the game worldwide. He said the next day that it was a proposal and “not an obligation”.
The European Commission has said it will examine the plan closely, noting that sporting rules fall under EU law where they affect the European economy.
European Commissioner for Sport Glenn Micallef said he fully supported UEFA’s position and praised Europe’s associations for “defending the integrity of the game”.
MEPs Barry Andrews and Nela Riehl have called for Infantino to appear before a European Parliament hearing. “The global good that is the World Cup is not anyone’s to sell,” they said.
Opposition has spread beyond Europe. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football rejected the plan on July 30, citing a lack of due process, while the Asian and African confederations have also objected.
Relations were already strained. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin stayed away from the World Cup final on July 19 in protest at FIFA governance decisions, including the reversal of a red card after a call from Trump.
Any restructuring needs the approval of FIFA’s member federations, with a vote expected at the FIFA Congress in March. The next FIFA tournament in Europe is the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which Poland is due to host from September 5.
