European football’s governing body UEFA has declared that it will boycott FIFA and all of its competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cup, if the sport’s global governing body proceeds with a plan to sell stakes in the tournament to private investors.
UEFA's unanimous rejection
The scheme, outlined by FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino, would create a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) that could issue shares to venture capital firms and other backers. Thrive Eternal, the venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, is expected to take a leading role in the investor group, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from UEFA.
Infantino argues that the infusion of private capital would generate roughly $10 billion in total funds, translating to about $40 million per national association, and would raise development payouts for smaller federations from $8 million to $20 million by 2030. He contends that the additional resources would accelerate growth across the sport.
UEFA, however, has responded with a unanimous and unequivocal rejection of the proposal, stating that the World Cup is not a commodity to be sold and that the plan was developed in secret without meaningful consultation with member associations.
The boycott would sideline traditional powerhouses such as England, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium from the premier global tournament, though domestic competitions like the European Championships and the UEFA Champions League would continue unaffected.
The controversy also places the upcoming editions of the tournament in focus: the 2030 men’s World Cup is slated to be co‑hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, while the 2027 women’s World Cup will be held in Brazil.