FIFA issues new response to UEFA World Cup boycott threat

FIFA have issued a defiant statement insisting "nobody is selling football" after UEFA threatened to boycott the World Cup over the association's plans to sell stakes in a World Cup commercial entity to private investors

FIFA says it will continue to pursue its controversial investor plans despite opposition from regional football confederations in Europe, Asia and North America. "Nobody is selling football," the body insists.

Football’s governing body wants to sell minority stakes in the World Cup to private investors - a move which has drawn criticism from member associations

UEFA has announced its opposition to Gianni Infantino's plan to open the World Cup's commercial rights to private investors. At an emergency meeting, UEFA's 55 member associations unanimously voted to withdraw from the World Cup should the reform be adopted.

3 min readJul 31, 2026 09:29 AM IST FIFA plans to create a semi-private subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to sell minority, non-controlling stakes in the business operations of the World Cup and other tournaments. (AP)CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North America, Central America, and the Caribbea

Uefa to boycott World Cup if Fifa's plan to invite private investors goes ahead | ITV News  ITVX

European football’s governing body UEFA said on Thursday it would boycott the World Cup if FIFA pressed ahead with its private investor plan.“No UEFA 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 and binding a

European soccer associations voted unanimously to boycott FIFA competitions until plans to sell stakes in a $20 billion tournament subsidiary are withdrawn.

UEFA has threatened to boycott FIFA competitions over Gianni Infantino's $20 billion investor plan, saying the World Cup should never be privately owned.

“UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions,” UEFA said after the meeting. The next FIFA event on the calendar is the Women's Under-20 World Cup, which will be held in Poland from September 5.

“Some things are simply too important to sell,” UEFA said in a statement. “The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.”

UEFA says will boycott World Cup if FIFA pushes private investor proposal  euractiv.com

European football's governing body UEFA said Thursday it would boycott the World Cup should FIFA press ahead with its private investor plan

UEFA member federations agreed on Thursday to boycott all Fifa competitions in protest of Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors. “UEFA and its national associations will not participate in Fifa competitions,” the European football body said after an urgent online meeting of

The strategy meeting was called to counter FIFA president Infantino’s offer of US$20 million to each of FIFA's 211 global members that has to be accepted by mid-September.

UEFA member federations will boycott all FIFA competitions in protest of Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors

CAF calls on members to review FIFA’s controversial plan to sell stakes in major competitions. Learn more about the FIFA investor plan and its implications

‘Damaged’ Gianni Infantino tipped to back down after UEFA’s threat to boycott World Cup  talkSPORT

A major row has broken out between football's governing bodies over FIFA's plans to seek private investment in the World Cup, with UEFA reacting angrily and European nations ready to discuss a potential boycott.