Gianni Infantino fires warning shot to England and other nations amid World Cup boycott rumours

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has sent a clear warning to England and other nations telling them what could happen if they don't back his World Cup sell-off plan.

In what is perhaps one of the most controversial stories in some time, FIFA President Infantino is currently making major plans to sell stakes in in FIFA's commercial and events operations, including the World Cup.

In a statement, FIFA confirmed that it will "invite third parties to make minority, non-controlling investments" in a new subsidiary - FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) - founded to oversee the commercial rights for every future tournament.

The subsidiary reportedly could be worth around £15 billion, with Thrive Eternal - an American venture capital company founded by the brother of Trump's son in-law Joshua Kushner - expected to lead the private investment process.

Since the news broke, Infantino and FIFA have received massive backlash, with UEFA releasing a damning statement accusing the global governing body of 'crossing the line' and calling on everyone involved in the sport to take the actions very seriously.

But now, the FIFA President has turned the pressure up even further, promising FIFA’s 211 member associations, including the English FA, up to $40 million (£30.1m) each if they agree to the proposal before a newly-set deadline.

Infantino has told the associations that they each have just 53 days to sign up to his World Cup sell-off plan or they will receive a reduced funding package in the future.

If the proposal is rejected, the funding package given to member associations will drop from $10billion (£7.5bn) to $2.7bn (£2bn).

“It is my duty and responsibility as FIFA president to present such game-changing opportunities to you, our members,” Infantino wrote in the letter addressed to all member associations.

“Should you wish to proceed this $10 billion package will become available as of January 1, 2027, ushering in the next phase of our journey together.

“Should you wish to retain the status quo and reject this proposal we still have our planned expansion of the Forward programme [development money] of $2.7 billion as previously presented.

“In total for the upcoming cycle starting as of January 1, 2027 each member association will have the possibility of access up to $40 million per member association under this proposal.”

READ MORE: Gianni Infantino asked to appear in front of US committee over Donald Trump relationship

England FA 'deeply concerned' with Infantino proposal

It is currently believed that an emergency virtual meeting of UEFA's 55 member associations will take place on Thursday (July 30) to discuss opposition to Infantino's proposal.

As it stands, it is not certain how each associations feels about the plan, but it is believed that a boycott could be threatened if the plan goes through.

But, the English FA has released a statement addressing the proposal, admitting it was 'deeply concerned' but would wait until the full proposal is shared to comment further.

"We were completely unaware of this proposal and have no substantive details, including what the proposition actually is, and what conditions are attached," an FA spokeswoman said on Wednesday morning.

"Based on the limited information, we are deeply concerned about the lack of process and governance to get to this point, and the apparent substance and principles involved.

"When the proposal is shared in the full and transparent way now promised by FIFA, we will make our views clear, and comment further."

Both the Welsh and Irish FAs also released statements adding that they will not be commenting in full until the proposal has actually been sent to them.