Arya News - UEFA set to end threat of FIFA events boycott after assurances over Gianni Infantino’s failed World Cup investor plan.
European football body UEFA is set to formally withdraw its threat to boycott FIFA competitions after receiving assurances that FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s failed World Cup selloff plan will not be revived.
UEFA’s member federations are meeting Thursday in Monaco ahead of the Champions League draw, where they are expected to end the boycott threat, a person familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press news agency on Wednesday.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items list 1 of 4 All you need to know about the UEFA Champions League draw list 2 of 4 Callaway apologises after golf ad slammed for depicting domestic violence list 3 of 4 Chinese robot Tiangong clocks sub-9-second 100 metres in Beijing list 4 of 4 England footballer Sterling charged with dangerous driving after collision end of list The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agenda of the closed-door meeting was confidential.
Ruling out a boycott will clear six European teams to continue preparing for the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup that kicks off September 5 in Poland.
France and Spain named their squads last week for the 24-nation tournament that risked becoming an unwanted battleground in European football’s pushback against Infantino’s private investor plan. England, Italy, Portugal and host Poland also will play. The United States, Brazil and Argentina also are in the lineup.
FIFA welcomed the update from UEFA in a statement, adding it “strongly believes that football has the power to unite, even in challenging circumstances, and looks forward to welcoming all teams and players to Poland”.
Infantino infuriated football leaders worldwide last month when his plan for a $20bn subsidiary controlling FIFA commercial rights – including the World Cup – was revealed by British daily The Times.
The spinoff was to be 20 percent owned by investors led by a New York fund created by Joshua Kushner, whose initial money was to pay offers of $20m to each of FIFA’s 211 member federations. Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The FIFA member federations were given a mid-September deadline to accept.
FIFA President Infantino dropped his proposal within four days amid a furious backlash led by UEFA, including the boycott threat, with support from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). The furore was fuelled by criticism of the plan and of Infantino from senior FIFA officials.
UEFA then said it wanted assurances the spinoff, to be called FIFA Forward Enterprise, would not be presented in a different form. That assurance was now received, the person told the AP.
The European football body said on August 1 that it had no confidence in Infantino’s leadership in a clear signal that it would try to stop his re-election in March next year.
The next set of FIFA competition games in Europe after the under-20s event is qualifying playoffs for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, scheduled for October 9-13. Qualifying games for the next men’s World Cup do not start until 2029.
FIFA previously set a November 18 deadline for candidates to enter the presidential contest, four months ahead of the vote by 211 member federations in Rabat, Morocco.
Infantino had seemed sure to be re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term in office through 2031 until the turmoil created by his investor plan.
The 55 UEFA member federations are attending the meeting in Monaco four weeks after they united in an online call to agree to the threatened boycott.