UEFA's 55 Nations Agree to Boycott World Cup

FIFA has defended the scheme, insisting it would keep full decision-making authority over every tournament and that only part of a commercial venture is being offered. European officials dispute that reassurance. Once outside investors hold ownership interests, UEFA argued, commercial return becomes a permanent obligation, and choices about calendars and competition formats would answer to shareholders rather than to the game. Federations were also angered by the process: the proposal was drawn up without consultation, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino asked all 211 members to decide by 19 September. The Daily Mail reported that more than 40 federations gave testimony at the emergency meeting and that opposition to Infantino's leadership is spreading inside Concacaf. The investment bank J.P. Morgan is advising FIFA, and Thrive Capital, run by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investor group.

Infantino needs 106 associations to approve the plan; by the Daily Mail's count about 90 are already publicly opposed, and 16 further defections would make approval mathematically impossible. The tactic has worked before, as UEFA threatened the same withdrawal in 2021 and FIFA duly dropped its idea of a two-yearly World Cup. The consequences could arrive quickly. The women's Under-20 World Cup begins in Poland in little over a month with six European teams entered, and UEFA's play-offs for next year's Women's World Cup in Brazil are scheduled for October. Britain's culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, called the stand a principled decision, saying football belongs to supporters rather than billionaire investors.