UEFA lifts FIFA competition veto but keeps up fight with Infantino | OneFootball

UEFA has lifted its veto on FIFA-run competitions, but its hostility towards Gianni Infantino endures. UEFA confirmed in a statement that participation will resume while its broader dispute with FIFA’s president remains unresolved.

A meeting on Infantino’s aborted plan to sell a World Cup-linked stake through FIFA Forward Enterprise ended with a return to FIFA events, starting with the Under-20 World Cup in Poland on five September.

After receiving the two guarantees it demanded on 30 July, UEFA has provisionally suspended the threat to withdraw European national teams from next season’s FIFA competitions.

The decision covers, among others, the Women’s Under-20 World Cup, the Men’s Under-17 World Cup and the Women’s Under-17 World Cup.

Members pressed for FIFA reform, tighter limits on presidential power and a return to institutional governance. They want an external, independent investigation into FIFA Forward Enterprise with full access to documents, communications and records. Self-investigation, they argued, would not command trust.

The crisis, they contend, cannot be solved merely by scrapping the project. Confidence in the FIFA presidency has been broken and, in their view, cannot be rebuilt with withdrawn proposals, assurances or post hoc reforms. World football now needs new leadership to restore trust.

The declaration is a significant marker ahead of the FIFA presidential election on 18 March 2027. UEFA will continue working with other confederations, national associations, clubs, leagues, players and supporters on FIFA’s future, without offering further detail.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo

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