UEFA Agrees to Boycott World Cup Over FIFA's Plans for Private Investment in Tournament

The Union of European Football Associations released a statement Thursday revealing "its 55 member associations stand as one" and "unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA's proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors."

Most notably, the statement said "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 assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership."

The statement also stressed "the World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product" and "is not for sale" while calling the secrecy of the proposal process "both irresponsible and indefensible."

It also said "the moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever" and called the model something that "has no place in world football."

All 41 members of The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) also rejected Infantino's proposal.

"Concacaf is a confederation united by the love of our game, where football comes first. Guided by this philosophy over the past ten years we have built, from the ground up, an organization founded on service, transparent governance, and the long-term stewardship of football," it said in a statement. "History has shown FIFA and the football family what happens when the custodians of the game lose sight of these values.

"With this in mind, Concacaf today convened a meeting of the presidents of its 41 Member Associations, together with its President, Council members, and its FIFA Council members, to discuss a proposal developed and presented by the FIFA President to establish 'FIFA Forward Enterprise' and sell interests in the FIFA World Cup to private investors.

"During the meeting, the membership expressed deep concerns about the lack of due process surrounding the proposal, the artificially short deadline imposed, and the absence of any review or approval by the relevant FIFA governance bodies. In addition, the need for private equity investment to fund new and existing FIFA Forward programs following the most profitable FIFA World Cup in history was questioned."

As James Horncastle and Megan Feringa of The Athletic outlined, FIFA confirmed Tuesday it wants to sell a minority stake of up to 21 percent in a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE) to take over commercial operations for events such as the World Cup.

In theory, the money would then go to member associations, although such a proposal must be approved by FIFA's 211 member associations.

"Football is the world's most popular sport and an extraordinary engine of human and social development," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in support of the proposal, per Horncastle and Feringa. 

"Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value—and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game. Our job is to make sure the rest of football grows with it: FIFA exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world."

The boycott threat from UEFA is quite the blow to FIFA's efforts seeing how it would be difficult to call any World Cup title without its confederation a legitimate one. Spain is the reigning World Cup champion on both the men's and women's side, and there is no shortage of powerhouses in world football included in UEFA.

The confederation features some of the most notable international teams in the world in France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Portugal, Italy and Norway, among others.

The back-and-forth and concern about FIFA's proposal comes shortly after the men's World Cup just finished this summer and before the women's World Cup takes center stage next year in Brazil.

The next men's World Cup is scheduled to take place in 2030 in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.