European nations to boycott FIFA World Cup if privatisation plans go ahead

UEFA said, "UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions." The next FIFA tournament affected by the boycott could be the Women's Under-20 World Cup, which is scheduled to begin in Poland on September 5. UEFA strongly opposed the idea of selling ownership in football competitions and said, "Some things are simply too important to sell", as per UEFA statement.

FIFA investor planUEFA also said, "The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale." The emergency meeting was called after FIFA asked its 211 member associations to approve the investment proposal by mid-September. According to AP, FIFA wants to create a new commercial company called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). The new company would be valued at $20 billion, with 20% ownership going to private investors.

AP reported that the main investor is expected to be a New York investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, who is US President Donald Trump's son-in-law. FIFA President Gianni Infantino told member associations that approving the plan would double their basic FIFA funding for the next four years. Under the proposal, each FIFA member would receive $20 million instead of $10 million in basic funding over the next four years.