UEFA boycotts FIFA, Club World Cup could be without a European side | OneFootball

Flamengo seeks a spot in the 2026 Intercontinental and is qualified for the 2029 Club World Cup

UEFA, which represents Europe’s football federations, announced this Thursday (30) a boycott against FIFA. The reason: the sport’s governing body announced that it will create a company to manage competitions and sell it to private investors. Unhappy with the move, UEFA said it will not play in intercontinental competitions while the proposal remains on the table.

“No UEFA national team will participate in any FIFA competition while these proposals remain under discussion, unless the idea is completely abandoned and there are binding guarantees,” UEFA said in a statement released this Thursday (30).

Regarding clubs, UEFA has not yet made any decision. However, the tendency is for the confederation’s teams to also stay out of FIFA tournaments. That way, PSG (FRA), already qualified for the 2026 Intercontinental, would not play in the competition. As for the 2029 Club World Cup, for which Mengão has already qualified, it would be left without the richest clubs in the world.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THIS DECISION?

The boycott would weaken, for example, the Women’s World Cup, which will take place next year in Brazil. If the issue drags on for a long time, the 2030 Men’s World Cup would also be affected. In other words, if FIFA does not back down, the tournaments will lose strength.

WHAT DOES FIFA WANT TO DO?

FIFA, through president Gianni Infantino, wants to create Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new subsidiary whose majority control would remain with the organization. The possible new brand would be responsible for consolidating commercial operations and the main competitions.

Therefore, FIFA believes FFE would be worth $20 billion (R$ 102.3 billion). So the organization expects to sell the equivalent of $4.2 billion (R$ 21.5 billion) in shares to private investors, who would hold a minority stake in the new company.

WHAT IS THE AUTHOR’S OPINION?

— I believe FIFA will back down before the two national-team World Cups are held. However, I am concerned about the Intercontinental in December. PSG already has a guaranteed spot. Without Paris, the future Copa Libertadores champion would become the big favorite. I say that even if Mengo wins its fifth title. Winning the Club World Cup without a European opponent would not be the same —, opined journalist Pedro Paulo Catonho of Coluna do Fla.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.