BY Nadia Ntiamoah
UEFA is preparing to withdraw its threat to boycott FIFA competitions after receiving assurances that there will be no repeat of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s controversial proposal to open stakes in FIFA’s commercial operations to private investors, according to information cited by BBC Sport.
The issue is expected to come before UEFA’s Executive Committee at a meeting in Monaco on Thursday, August 27, where European football’s governing body will consider whether the assurances provided are sufficient to end the boycott threat that has deepened tensions between UEFA and FIFA.
The potential withdrawal would represent a significant development in the dispute that erupted after Infantino and FIFA proposed the creation of FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE), a commercial subsidiary that would have been responsible for managing major FIFA competitions and could have allowed outside investors to acquire minority stakes.
The proposal triggered strong opposition from UEFA and its 55 member associations, who argued that football’s major competitions, particularly the World Cup, should not be exposed to private ownership or treated primarily as investment assets.
Although FIFA eventually abandoned the plan, UEFA initially maintained that its concerns had not been adequately addressed. The European governing body demanded binding assurances that similar attempts to introduce private ownership into FIFA’s governance or competitions would never be made again.
Infantino subsequently informed FIFA’s 211 member associations that the FFE proposal was “now off the table” and apologised for what he described as errors surrounding the initiative.
The latest assurances appear to have opened the door for UEFA to reconsider its position. If the boycott threat is formally withdrawn, the immediate consequence would be the removal of a major uncertainty surrounding next month’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
The tournament is scheduled to feature six European teams — England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and hosts Poland — meaning a continued UEFA boycott could have created major disruption for the young players and the competition itself.
UEFA has nevertheless indicated that ending the boycott threat should not be interpreted as an acceptance of Infantino’s leadership or a retreat from its broader opposition to FIFA’s current direction.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has previously suggested that he expects Infantino either to resign or face a challenger in the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March.
