UEFA maintains boycott threat against FIFA and Infantino

UEFA has maintained its threat to boycott FIFA competitions and the World Cup unless President Gianni Infantino steps down. The European governing body stated on Thursday that it has lost all confidence in his leadership following an aborted plan to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

The dispute follows the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal. UEFA claims the plan was designed in secrecy and negotiated without the knowledge of the FIFA Council, member associations, or players. The European body described the attempt to commercialize the competitions through private ownership as a profound abuse of presidential power.

UEFA insists that two specific conditions must be met to lift the boycott threat. First, the proposals to sell off major competitions had to be withdrawn, which has occurred. Second, there must be formal assurances that such commercial exploitation will never be attempted again. UEFA stated that these second conditions have not been met.

While FIFA claimed during a meeting in Morocco that Infantino still has the support of top staff, UEFA dismissed these claims. The organization noted that support from employees whose careers depend on the president does not change their position. UEFA maintains that the confidence in Infantino's presidency is fundamentally broken and cannot be restored through internal reviews or promises of reform.

The ongoing standoff puts European participation in upcoming events at risk. This includes major qualification play-offs and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. UEFA argues that while the withdrawal of the FFE proposal prevented an irreversible decision, it does not erase the governance failures that allowed the plan to be conceived.