UEFA has declared it will pull out of all FIFA tournaments if President Gianni Infantino proceeds with plans to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors. This unified stance was reached during an emergency gathering of UEFA’s 55 member associations.
Infantino previously set a deadline of September 19 for football associations to support the proposal, which includes a 40 million dollar incentive. UEFA has firmly pushed back against this, labeling the initiative an irresponsible attempt to commodify a sport that belongs to its global community.
In a formal statement, the European body argued that allowing private entities to hold ownership interests would permanently shift the focus of the game toward financial returns rather than sporting merit. UEFA emphasized that the World Cup should not be treated as an investment asset and criticized FIFA for the lack of transparency surrounding the deal.
Consequently, UEFA confirmed that its member nations will refuse to compete in any FIFA-governed event as long as the current privatization proposal remains active. The organization asserted that it will only reconsider if the plan is scrapped entirely and FIFA provides guarantees against future efforts to shift competition ownership to outside parties.
