UEFA Threatens World Cup Boycott Over FIFA's Commercial Rights Sale Plan

UEFA, Europe's main soccer body, said on Thursday its members would boycott the men's and women's World Cup unless FIFA abandons a controversial plan to sell stakes in the tournament to private investors.

A boycott of one of the world's top sporting competitions would mark an unprecedented step for European nations. It also threatens to imperil a proposal unveiled by FIFA this week to create a company to handle all commercial rights to its tournaments, including the marquee World Cup.

The dispute comes ahead of next year's women's World Cup in Brazil, as well as the men's 2030 World Cup, which will mark the tournament's centenary, celebrating 100 years since the inaugural edition in Uruguay in 1930. The event will be staged mainly in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with centenary matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

Under the proposal, FIFA would also sell minority stakes in that newly-created companies to private investors, including a firm run by Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kusnher. The plan to sell minority stakes sparked fury across European soccer bodies.

"Some things are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale," UEFA said in its statement.

England's Football Association said: "We stand shoulder to shoulder with our European colleagues and fully support the collective view."

Concacaf, football's governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, also expressed concerns over FIFA's proposal, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

"Through these actions, Concacaf reaffirms that football's future—and its greatest asset—must remain in the hands of our football family," the confederation said in a statement.

Concacaf said its 41 member associations had "deep concerns about the lack of due process surrounding the proposal, the artificially short deadline imposed, and the absence of any review or approval by the relevant FIFA governance bodies."

The confederation said it had rejected the proposal and called for any decisions affecting football's future to follow proper governance processes.

'Football changes forever'

FIFA had defended its proposal, saying it would retain all decision making power across all its tournaments, while noting that its proposal involved only selling part of the commercial venture.

UEFA, which represents 55 member soccer associations across Europe, questioned that promise in its sharply-worded statement on Thursday.

"The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever. Commercial return becomes a permanent obligation. Investor expectations become a daily pressure," UEFA said.

UEFA added that investors, even if they hold minority stakes, would reshape the World Cup.