UEFA has maintained that its member associations could still boycott FIFA competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, despite FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s apology over the governing body’s abandoned plan to sell stakes in the tournament.
The warning follows a FIFA leadership meeting in Rabat, Morocco, where the organisation acknowledged that “mistakes were made” in pursuing the controversial commercialisation proposal and reaffirmed its confidence in Infantino’s leadership.
However, in a statement issued on Thursday, UEFA said the conditions it had set for withdrawing its boycott threat had not been met.
According to the European football governing body, FIFA has neither provided assurances that similar proposals would not be pursued in the future nor taken sufficient steps to restore confidence in its leadership.
“UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to the non-participation in FIFA competitions. These conditions have not been met,” the statement said.
UEFA also reiterated that it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership, arguing that FIFA’s renewed backing of its president failed to address broader concerns over governance and transparency raised by the failed World Cup commercialisation plan.
The controversy has continued to generate criticism from across world football.
Global players’ union, FIFPRO, accused Infantino of what it described as “a profound abuse of presidential power,” while the English Football Association withdrew its support for his re-election. Human rights organisation Amnesty International also called for governance reforms within FIFA.
FIFA, meanwhile, said it hoped the Rabat meeting would help rebuild trust after abandoning the proposal to commercialise future World Cup revenues through a separate subsidiary.
The governing body pledged to improve its decision-making processes and ensure similar proposals would not be pursued without broader consultation.
The proposal had earlier faced strong opposition from regional football bodies, including Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation, before FIFA officially shelved the plan.
Although senior FIFA officials, including Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger and Secretary General Mattias Grafström, had previously distanced themselves from the proposal, Grafström later joined other FIFA executives in reaffirming support for Infantino following the Rabat meeting.
