- Uefa’s members have agreed to boycott the World Cup and other major tournaments organised by Fifa if Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors goes through.
- The European football governing body called an emergency virtual meeting with its 55 member associations on Thursday to strategise on leveraging their influence, noting that a World Cup without major European nations would significantly undermine the tournament.
- Uefa had expressed outrage earlier this week over Infantino’s short 53-day deadline for member associations to decide on the proposals and his offer of a $40m windfall to nations supporting the plan, which they described as crossing a line.
- Infantino's plan involves creating 'Fifa Forward Enterprises (FFE)' to manage commercial rights, seeking private investors for minority, non-controlling stakes, with an aim to raise up to $4.2bn.
- While Uefa's 55 votes are insufficient to block the plan outright, they are exploring next steps with the European Union regarding potential competition law breaches and are forming an alliance with other major football stakeholders against the proposals.
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