World Cup boycott latest: Infantino refuses to back down after Uefa say they’ll refuse to play in Fifa tournaments | OneFootball

Fifa has hit back at Uefa’s boycott of the World Cup and plans to press on with its proposals to sell stakes in its tournaments to private investors.

In a statement on Friday, Fifa insisted that “nobody is selling football” and confirmed that it will continue its consultation period ahead of a vote on 19 September.

On Thursday, Uefa announced that it would boycott the World Cup and all Fifa competitions if Gianni Infantino’s controversial plans to sell off stakes in its major tournaments to external investors are voted through.

“Uefa and its 55 member associations stand as one,” a statement said following an emergency Uefa meeting. “We unanimously and unequivocally reject Fifa’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors.

Meanwhile, Concacaf, the confederation representing 41 nations from North and Central America, along with the Caribbean, also made clear its opposition to Fifa’s plan, saying it “rejected the proposal”.

Why have Fifa decided on these plans?

The driving force behind the creation of the FFE is Fifa president Gianni Infantino who confirmed that the new subsidiary would manage the commercial rights and delivery of the World Cup, as well as other major tournaments, and that the Fifa Forward Enterprises (FFE) would be open to external capital investment.

Private investors will be sought to “make minority, non-controlling investments” in the company. The investor group for FFE is set to be led by Thrive Eternal, founded earlier this year by Joshua Kushner – the brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Fifa is working with bankers at JPMorgan to raise billions of dollars by bringing in external investors to take as much as a 20 per cent stake.

In a statement, Fifa said it would “raise up to $4.2bn later this year” to fund the project, “based on an initial equity valuation of $20bn by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests ... All net benefits will be reinvested back into football worldwide.”

Uefa were furious over Fifa's plans

Uefa reacted furiously to plans that Fifa president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup and its other tournaments to investors.

They released an inital statement accusing Fifa of ‘crossing a line that should never be crossed’ claiming that “the soul and governance of football are not assets to trade”

Uefa added: “None of us are the owners of football. It is not Fifa’s to sell.”

(PA)

Mike Jones31 July 2026 08:34

What was the response from the member associations?

As explained, the member associations that make up Fifa held talks on Wednesday to decide on next steps in regards to the proposal of a commercial entity.

Uefa, European football’s governing body, were incensed over the idea and accused Fifa of ‘selling off football’ before deciding that the best course of action was to boycott the World Cup and all Fifa organised competitions.

Mike Jones31 July 2026 08:27

Inside rogue agent Gianni Infantino’s secret plan to sell off the World Cup

For more detail on how Fifa’s plan to set up the FFE came about, our Chief Football Writer, Miguel Delaney explains that not even Gianni Infantino’s inner circle or closest advisors at Fifa knew about his privatisation project.

Mike Jones31 July 2026 08:20

What has happened this week?

The news first broke on Tuesday via reports in The Times and the Financial Times that Fifa was proposing to create a separate commercial entity that would sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

According to Fifa the entity, known as the Fifa Forward Enterprise, would be used to raise funds from outside sources which would then be split amongs the 211 member associations to spend for the benefit of growing football.

The revelation of this plan came as a shock to Fifa’s MAs who then launched emergency meetings on Wednesday to discuss their responses to the proposal.

Mike Jones31 July 2026 08:13

‘Nobody is selling football’: Fifa issues response to Uefa’s threat of World Cup boycott

Football’s governing body wants to sell minority stakes in the World Cup to private investors - a move which has drawn criticism from member associations.

Fifa have issued their response to concerns over the proposal and claimed that ‘nobody is selling football’.

Read more here:

Mike Jones31 July 2026 08:05

Good morning!

In case you might have missed the big news, Fifa is facing criticism from its member associations over its decision to set up a commercial body and sell off stakes in the World Cup.

This proposal has infuriated MAs such as Uefa and Concacaf who have both rejected the idea with the European governing body threatening to boycott Fifa competitions unless the proposal is dropped.

Fifa have, this morning, responded to the threats and concerns from Uefa as well as other federations and have released a statement reaffirming their own position.

Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has publically backed the proposal and his leadership is now being called into question as well.

We’ll have all the latest updates from this story throughout the day so stick with us...

Fifa hit back at Uefa: 'Nobody is selling football'

Fifa insists “nobody is selling football” amid criticism of its decision to launch a consultation on selling stakes in a World Cup commercial entity to private investors.

However, football’s global governing body stopped short of withdrawing the controversial plan and insisted it would press ahead with the consultation period.

Uefa reacted furiously when the plans to create Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) first emerged in media reports in The Times and the Financial Times on Tuesday.

Less than 48 hours later, Uefa’s 55 member associations insisted they would not participate in any Fifa tournament until the plan was withdrawn.

In a statement released on Friday morning, Fifa said: “We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced since the initial media reporting on Tuesday.

“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation.

⁠”Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA has the ability to express its vote based on facts.”