Nyon, Switzerland – The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has announced a boycott of the men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments in protest against FIFA’s plan to open the door for private investors to take ownership of the rights to some of its tournaments.
The decision came after a meeting of UEFA’s executive committee, chaired by Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin, where the 55 European member associations unanimously rejected the proposal put forward by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Infantino had announced in recent days that investors intend to acquire 20% of FIFA’s shares, in addition to creating a new company called FIFA Forward Enterprise that will manage the World Cup tournaments in the future.
UEFA confirmed in an official statement that all member associations categorically reject the transfer of any part of the ownership of the World Cup or other FIFA competitions to private sector investors.
European Union statement
The statement said: “The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment asset. It represents the legacy of global football, built over generations of players, teams and fans, and no part of it should be given away to investors.. The World Cup is not for sale”.
He added that such a proposal was put forward without genuine consultations with the relevant authorities managing the game, considering what happened to be a “serious administrative failure and an abandonment by FIFA of its responsibility towards football”.
The European Union felt that national federations were presented with only two options: either accept the project or face the consequences of rejecting it, describing this as an “intimidation tactic” that is inconsistent with the principles by which the game should be run.
The statement explained that the entry of investors into the ownership of FIFA tournaments will change the nature of football, as future decisions regarding tournaments, match schedules and competitions will be subject to the pressures of commercial returns and the interests of shareholders, rather than being based on the interest of the game.
UEFA stressed that this model has no place in football, emphasizing its refusal to subject the interests of national federations, clubs, players and fans to the demands of investors or the pursuit of profits.
The European Union concluded its statement by emphasizing that the national teams of the European federations will not participate in any tournament organized by FIFA as long as these proposals exist, and until they are finally abandoned, while providing guarantees that the door will not be opened in the future to private ownership of FIFA tournaments, stressing that “the World Cup belongs to football, and is not for sale”.
