European nations will discuss a potential boycott of the next World Cup after Fifa unveiled plans to sell stakes in its major competitions to private investors – a proposal that has drawn fierce condemnation from Uefa, Concacaf and senior political figures.
Uefa’s 55 member associations will hold an emergency virtual meeting this week to coordinate a response. The talks come after Fifa announced it wants to create a new commercial subsidiary, Fifa Forward Enterprise, valued at $20bn (£15bn), and sell a 20% stake to raise $4.2bn (£3.16bn). US venture capital firm Thrive Eternal, founded by Joshua Kushner – brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – has been engaged to lead the investor group.
“Uefa nations may boycott World Cup after Fifa's plan to sell stakes to private investors, with Concacaf also criticising lack of due process.”
Fifa argues the move will enable more money to be distributed to football associations globally, with plans to extend development funding to $10bn (£7.5bn) and offer each of its 211 member associations up to $20m (£15m) in one-off capital. Member associations have until 19 September to decide whether to sign up.
But the backlash has been immediate and intense. In a statement issued before Fifa’s plans were even published, Uefa said the proposal “crossed a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross”. It added: “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not Fifa’s to sell.”
Concacaf, the confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, joined the criticism, revealing it was only made aware of the plans through media reports. In a statement to the Guardian, Concacaf said it was “deeply concerned by the lack of due process” and stressed that “every decision we make must be guided by good governance”. Its president, Victor Montagliani – a Fifa vice-president who helped deliver the 2026 World Cup – was reportedly not consulted, despite close ties to Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
The Football Association also said it was not consulted before Fifa released its proposals, which came shortly after Uefa’s statement. One senior source within the English game told BBC Sport that the threat posed by Fifa’s plan is “one of the biggest the game has faced” and comparable to the European Super League, which collapsed within 48 hours in 2021. But unlike that rebellion, it seems improbable that Fifa will back down.
Former culture secretary and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham issued a blistering statement on X: “Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands … The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.”
The possibility of a boycott – of either the men’s 2030 World Cup, to be held across Spain, Morocco and Portugal, or the women’s tournament in Brazil next year – is understood to be on the table. While Uefa knows it accounts for only a quarter of Fifa’s membership, its nations include most of the world’s most successful teams: six of the eight quarter-finalists at this summer’s World Cup were European. Any tournament without them would be far less valuable.
Fifa’s rapid commercialisation under Infantino – revenues are predicted to reach $13bn (£9.6bn) in the 2022-26 cycle, a 72% increase – has solidified his power, but this latest move may have overreached. With opposition coalescing and a deadline looming, the question now is whether the world game’s governing body can withstand a revolt from its most influential members.