UEFA is set to drop its boycott of all FIFA tournaments triggered by Gianni Infantino’s short-lived plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.
Europe’s continental body first threatened to pull out of tournaments in the days following Infantino’s FIFA Forward Enterprise Proposal. But after Infantino called off the plan on July 31, UEFA said on Aug. 6 that it would still uphold the boycott because it had not received “assurances” that “such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.”
The Times and Sky Sports first reported Wednesday that UEFA will tell its member associations at a meeting in Monaco on Thursday that it received the promises it needed in order to call off the boycott.
In a lengthy statement Thursday, UEFA confirmed that it was dropping the boycott but called Infantino’s proposal a “profound failure of judgement” and “an abuse of presidential power.” The statement said that if Infantino runs for another term as president, they would put up a challenger. “While the immediate question of participation has now been resolved, the underlying crisis has not,” the organization said.
According to UEFA, FIFA told its delegates that the World Cup scheme has been “irrevocably and permanently withdrawn” and that it “will not re-appear in any other shape, construction, name or form.”
The boycott wouldn’t have just applied to senior World Cups, but also youth tournaments. The first tournament caught in the crossfire was set to be the Women’s U-20 World Cup kicking off in Poland on Sept. 5.
FIFA said in a statement that it is “pleased that all qualifying teams” will play in the Women’s U-20 tournament. “FIFA strongly believes that football has the power to unite, even in challenging circumstances,” a governing body spokesperson said.
Even without the boycott, UEFA is still pushing hard for Infantino to step down.
In an episode of The Rest is Politics podcast released Sunday, president Aleksander Ceferin said either Infantino steps down, or the opposition raises a candidate against him in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections next spring.
“The governance at FIFA on paper is clear: FIFA Council decides the main things,” Ceferin said. “FIFA Congress decides, and things like that. The president cannot decide by himself. But you know, we have bad experience with this organization for 100 years already. All the time, there are some problems, some controversies. There are some people who feel like kings.”
Ceferin and the presidents of the North American and Asian confederations published a joint letter condemning Infantino earlier this month, while individual national federations are increasingly making statements to reaffirm or withdraw their previous endorsement of Infantino.
FIFA has a Nov. 18 deadline to submit a challenger against Infantino in March’s election. Ceferin said on The Rest is Politics that he doesn’t know who that person would be. CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani’s name has repeatedly come up, but he has not formally announced his candidacy.
