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UEFA has maintained its threat to boycott FIFA competitions and the World Cup unless FIFA President Gianni Infantino steps down.
The European body insists that Infantino’s apologies and a show of internal staff support change nothing, stating they have completely lost confidence in his leadership following an aborted plan to sell World Cup commercial stakes to private investors.
In a statement issued on Thursday, UEFA stated that the basic conditions required to lift their boycott threat—assurances that such commercial exploitation will never be tried again—have not been met.
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Following a crisis meeting in Morocco, FIFA claimed Infantino still retained backing from top staff present. UEFA dismissed this, noting that agreement from people whose careers depend on the president changes nothing.
The boycott threat puts European participation in near-future events like the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and major qualification play-offs in jeopardy.
‘FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) is gone. The abuse of power that produced it is not. Governance reforms, not a cover-up, are urgently needed. The withdrawal of FFE was inevitable. But withdrawing the proposal does not erase what it revealed.
‘A plan capable of permanently altering the ownership and governance of the FIFA World Cup, and commercialising the competitions built by generations of players, was conceived in secrecy, negotiated behind closed doors and brought to the brink of agreement before the FIFA Council, the Member Associations, players and football’s recognised stakeholders even knew it existed.
‘That is not merely a governance failure. It is a profound abuse of presidential power.’
‘The withdrawal of FFE prevented an irreversible decision. It did not restore the confidence that made such a proposal possible in the first place. That confidence has now been fundamentally broken. It cannot be rebuilt through carefully drafted statements, internal reviews or promises to improve processes. Nor can it be restored simply by announcing governance and structural reforms that should always have existed.
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‘These reforms are now indispensable. But they are the responsibility of the future, not an absolution of the past. The players did not create this crisis. They will insist that football emerges from it with stronger institutions, stronger safeguards and leadership worthy of the trust the game demands.
‘UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to their non participation in FIFA competitions. First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.
‘These conditions have not been met. In addition, UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds. Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing.’
