UEFA emergency meeting insider reveals what happened during World Cup boycott talks

An insider who attended UEFA’s meeting with all 55 member associations over boycotting FIFA tournaments has revealed what happened during discussions.

On Thursday (July 30), UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin chaired a meeting with all 55 member associations, including the FA, voting to boycott World Cups if FIFA proceed with plans to sell stakes in its tournaments to private investors.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced the controversial plans to “invite third parties to make minority, non-controlling investments” in a new subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), with the aim of overseeing the commercial rights for every future tournament.

The FIFA chief then put forward a deadline of September 19 by which all 211 global member associations must accept his plan, with the incentive of a £30 million payment pledged to those who back him.

Member associations that meet the deadline and back the plans have been promised an initial £15 million, available from January 1, 2027.

FIFA aims to raise up to £3.1 billion from investors by selling minority, non-controlling stakes in FFE, which the organisation values at around £15 billion.

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The plans were met with a number of furious statements from UEFA, accusing FIFA of using football to “enrich themselves and their friends”, with the European body making clear that football “is not FIFA’s to sell”.

Following Thursday’s emergency meeting, UEFA announced all 55 of its members would boycott FIFA tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups, if the plans were passed. For the plans to be passed, they must first be subject to a vote involving all 211 member associations.

A statement by UEFA published in light of the meeting read: “Europe’s position is clear.

"We will never lend this model our legitimacy. No one has the moral authority to sell what they merely hold in trust for the next generation.

"As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.

"Nobody should be in any doubt: UEFA and its national associations will oppose these plans with absolute determination.

"There are moments when institutions are judged not by what they are prepared to accept, but by what they refuse to compromise. This is one of those moments.

"Some things are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale."

The FA released its own statement backing UEFA’s plans shortly afterwards, with the English organisation making clear it opposes FIFA’s plans.

Insider reveals details about UEFA World Cup boycott meeting

Meanwhile, Professor Laura McAllister, who was part of the meeting with all 55 UEFA nations, revealed further details about the discussions and impact of selling football to private equity.

“There was absolute unity about the need to stop this catastrophic proposal of selling off part of football to private equity,” she told BBC Radio Wales.

"This poses a genuine existential threat to the game because the minute you sell off part of the crown jewels of football, clearly private equity has very different objectives and motivations to those of us who are custodians of the game."

"UEFA and FIFA are not-for-profit organisations in that all of the money that is made through massive competitions like the World Cups goes straight back into football. Even if you sell off 20% of the game, then that's 20% you never get back. Once you've done it, you've done it, and it effectively undermines the whole ethical base of what we're about in football."