Europe and North America unanimously came out against Gianni Infantino’s plan to commercialize FIFA on Thursday, taking away a major bloc of votes he would need to push forward the proposal.
All 55 Europe soccer federations said in a joint statement that they are ready to boycott World Cups if FIFA moves forward with its proposal for creating a commercial entity. The North American, Central American, and Caribbean federations did not say they would boycott, but they still “rejected”the proposal.
Infantino’s plan is now in serious trouble. He needs a simple majority of FIFA’s 211 national federations—106 votes—to pass the plan. UEFA and CONCACAF’s moves Thursday mean that at least 96 countries are against it.
The European continental body voted unanimously at an emergency meeting Thursday to boycott all FIFA tournaments if the global governing body moves forward with its plan. The women’s World Cup is next summer in Brazil, but FIFA also conducts other tournaments.Poland is hosting the U-20 Women’s World Cup in September.
“As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,” the confederation said in a statement Thursday.
