UEFA threatens to boycott the World Cup: Opposing Infantino's plan to sell shares.
All 55 UEFA member federations unanimously rejected FIFA's proposal to sell its World Cup stake, are ready to withdraw from the tournament, and are opening up a new presidential race.
A sporting-political crisis has just erupted at the highest level of world football. On July 30, 2026, an emergency online meeting of the European Football Federation (UEFA) and its 55 member federations turned into a fierce counterattack against FIFA President Gianni Infantino. At the heart of the outrage was the plan to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors, a project allegedly linked to partners of Donald Trump.
An unprecedented counter-attack from European football.
Initially, the online meeting was only scheduled to last an hour. However, the outburst of frustration from the representatives caused the program to extend to over two hours. According to internal sources, more than 30 federations spoke in person, and all agreed on one point: they were ready to boycott the World Cup if FIFA continued to push forward with this commercialization plan.
Despite FIFA touting the deal as potentially worth billions of pounds, European representatives showed little interest. One official attending the meeting briefly summarized the general sentiment: "We don't need it; we can generate our own revenue; this is ridiculous."
The meeting was led by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who has had deep disagreements with Infantino. Notably, several powerful figures, such as the Chair of the English Football Association (FA), Debbie Hewitt, and the FA General Manager, Mark Bullingham, publicly spoke out. Hewitt, despite holding a vice-chair position under Infantino at FIFA, admitted she had only learned about the plan two days prior.
The consensus was overwhelming. Even the President of the Czech Republic Football Federation, David Trunda, who had expressed support for the plan the day before, had to retract his opinion. Leading football powers in Europe such as England, Germany, Spain, France, and Italy all affirmed their readiness to refuse participation in the biggest football event on the planet.
Infantino's presidency is under threat.
Besides the risk of the tournament being disrupted due to the absence of European representatives, this clash also opens a new political front. Infantino's plan inadvertently paved the way for the emergence of a rival for the FIFA presidency in the upcoming election.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris St-Germain and head of the European Club Association (ECA) and the BeIN Sport media group, is currently considered the most likely candidate to challenge Infantino's authority. Although Al-Khelaifi has not officially announced his candidacy, many sources suggest that introducing a counter-candidate would be the "inevitable next step" if the FIFA leader does not abandon his intentions.
A strong statement: The World Cup is not for sale.
Immediately after the emergency meeting concluded, UEFA issued a 481-word official press release. The message was unequivocally clear: UEFA teams would not participate in any FIFA-organized tournaments as long as these share sale proposals remained on the negotiating table.
UEFA stressed in its statement: "No one should have any doubt: UEFA and its member associations will oppose these plans with absolute determination. There are times when organizations are judged not by what they are willing to accept, but by what they refuse to compromise. This is one such time."
Similar to the rapid collapse of the previous European Super League project, Infantino's ambitions to privatize the World Cup appear to have been thwarted from the outset. UEFA's statement concludes with a strong commitment: "There are things that are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And as long as Europe has a voice, the tournament will never be for sale."