European football’s governing body, UEFA, is dropping its threat to boycott FIFA competitions after receiving assurances that the World Cup will never be sold to private investors, according to The Times. The retreat cools one of the sharpest institutional standoffs the sport has seen in years.
The dispute flared earlier this summer when FIFA floated a plan to sell shares in some of its biggest assets, the World Cup among them, to outside investors. The idea drew immediate and heavy criticism, and UEFA member associations went as far as agreeing to boycott FIFA events in protest.
That proposal has since been scrapped. UEFA has reportedly now secured a promise that FIFA will never again attempt to sell World Cup shares, a commitment said to have persuaded the European body to set aside its boycott threat. The shift is expected to be confirmed after a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee on Thursday.
The confrontation reflects a broader tension over who controls football’s most valuable competition and how its revenues are shared. The World Cup is FIFA’s financial engine, and any move to bring in private capital touched a nerve across a sport where clubs, leagues and national associations all lay claim to a stake.
At the centre of the row is FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whose handling of the plan turned it into a test of his leadership. According to The Times, UEFA’s underlying goal remains unchanged: to replace him as FIFA president. For all the talk of assurances and withdrawn threats, the episode has left European football’s leaders and the global federation on a collision course that a single pledge is unlikely to resolve.
