FIFA issues defiant response to World Cup boycott as Gianni Infantino faces no-confidence vote

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·31 July 2026

FIFA issues defiant response to World Cup boycott as Gianni Infantino faces no-confidence vote

FIFA has responded to the threat of a boycott from European countries by saying that “nobody is selling football”, while vowing to continue with its controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

On Thursday, UEFA member associations, all 55 of them, agreed to boycott all FIFA tournaments, such as the World Cup, unless the governing body ditched its new proposal.

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Since then, CONCACAF, which governs football in North and Central America and hosted the 2026 World Cup, said its 41 members “rejected” this Gianni Infantino-led scheme.

FIFA president Infantino needs 106 of its 211 members to vote in favour of this motion but on Friday, the Asian Football Confederation – and its 47 members – added its weight to rejecting this controversial proposal.

In spite of this, FIFA released a statement that began with:

FIFA acknowledges and respects feedback and concern aired in public
FIFA reaffirms its commitment to an open and democratic consultation
Erroneous reporting in the media disrupted planned consultation process

The statement goes on to say that the ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ has been proposed to ensure that all FIFA member associations take the opportunity to take ‘meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football’.

FIFA added, “Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain. Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs (member associations) around the world.

“Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA.

“As per the proposal:

FFE would move FIFA’s commercial and operational event delivery activities into a subsidiary organisation that FIFA would own and control permanently.
The commercial value created would be shared among all 211 MAs, enabling each MA to make meaningful investments in football in their respective countries.
⁠Under the proposal, each MA would receive USD 20 million of FIFA Forward Development funding over the next four years (2027-2030), irrespective of its individual support.
⁠This increased funding would come from the additional revenues generated by FFE through the more effective management of FIFA’s commercial operations, for the benefit of all MAs.
⁠The FIFA Fast Forward Programme is a one-off development funding of an additional USD 20 million per MA – participation would be fully voluntary for all MAs should the FFE proposal proceed – and would be financed by external investment without ceding control or altering FIFA’s governance structure in any way.
⁠Without the support of the majority of MAs, FIFA’s commercial activities would remain unchanged. FFE would not be established.

Gianni Infantino faces threat of vote of no confidence

The Times initially broke the story about Infantino reportedly planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could earn him tens of millions of pounds.

The plan would lead to a company being formed to control FIFA’s top men’s and women’s competitions: the World Cup and Club World Cup. This could lead to pressure for the tournaments to be expanded or even played more regularly.

Now, the same outlet has explained how 43 nations, about 20% of the membership, could trigger a vote of no confidence in the increasingly unpopular Infantino.

If all 55 member associations at UEFA followed through on this, they would have enough leverage on their own to initiate the process.

The report states UEFA has been discussing this as an option, rather than launching it, but it is a powerful bargaining tool.

Even if it didn’t lead to that, there could be growing calls for Infantino to be replaced by the likes of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Victor Montagliani and Sheikh Salman.

But, Infantino still had endorsements from the majority of FIFA member associations ahead of the 2027 president election. This turn of events could change that, however.