Uefa says its 55 nations will pull out of Fifa competitions if Gianni Infantino sells a 20% stake in the company
European football’s governing body Uefa has threatened to pull all 55 of its national associations out of Fifa competitions, including the World Cup. The threat came in a statement issued at 16:00 BST on Thursday 30 July, in response to Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell a 20% stake in a new company set up to run world football’s biggest tournaments.
The statement ran to 11 words: ‘Uefa and its national associations will not participate in Fifa competitions.’
Under Infantino’s plan, Fifa would run the new company but private investors would part-fund it. Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, is among the investors, BBC Sport reported.
Fifa has offered each national association $20m (c.£15m), paid on 1 January, if they accept the deal by 19 September. Infantino has told members they will miss out on $40m (c.£30m) in funding if they refuse, [according to ESPN]. Critics call the payments an inducement. Former FA chairman David Bernstein told BBC Sport: ‘This deal is not acceptable. It’s a friends deal and it’s not right. If they want to raise capital, there’s other, better ways of doing it.’
The revolt spread across two continents in hours
Concacaf, which governs football in North and Central America, said its 41 member associations unanimously rejected the proposals, as reported by TSN. [Sports Business Journal reported] that Concacaf’s rejection came after a dedicated meeting on 30 July.
Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt spoke against the plan at Uefa’s emergency meeting on Thursday. The FA said it stands ‘shoulder to shoulder with our European colleagues’. The Scottish FA said it ‘agrees unequivocally’ with Uefa. Its president, Mike Mulraney, chairs Fifa’s own finance committee.
Fifa responded with a statement claiming consultation ‘was disrupted by incorrect media reports’. It added: ‘Nobody is selling football. This is not something Fifa would ever entertain.’
The tournaments now at risk
The U20 Women’s World Cup [starts on 5 September in Poland], according to the official Fifa schedule. The 19 September deadline falls in the middle of that tournament.
The Women’s World Cup play-offs in October feature England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Wales has never qualified for a senior Women’s World Cup.
Uefa vice-president Laura McAllister told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘This is not a problem of Uefa’s making. It’s a problem that Fifa have created. We’ve been pushed into this corner and that’s Fifa’s responsibility.’
Can Infantino survive?
Infantino won the Fifa presidency in 2016, beating Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa by 115 votes to 88. He is due to stand for a fourth term at the [Fifa Congress in Vancouver in March 2027]. By mid-July, more than 200 of Fifa’s 211 member associations had endorsed him, [The Guardian reported].
Paris St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been named as a possible challenger. A source close to him told BBC Sport he ‘genuinely, genuinely, genuinely doesn’t want the job’. The last Fifa president to lose an election was Englishman Sir Stanley Rous, beaten by Brazil’s Joao Havelange in 1974.
This deal is not acceptable. It’s a friends deal and it’s not right. — David Bernstein, former FA chairman
Fifa and Uefa are membership organisations funded by broadcasting rights, sponsorship, and competition revenue, not public money. Europe supplied three of the four semi-finalists across the last World Cup, Women’s World Cup, and Club World Cup. Without European teams, the $40bn (c.£30bn) product Infantino promised members in a letter has virtually no chance of materialising.
The closest recent parallel is the European Super League of 2021, which collapsed within 48 hours of launch after coordinated European opposition.
BBC Sport’s original report did not set out the structure of the proposed company or name any investor beyond Kushner. As of 31 July, neither side has moved. The deadline for associations to accept Fifa’s money is 19 September.
