European football's 55 member associations have voted to boycott future World Cups if Fifa proceeds with its plan to sell stakes in its competitions to private investors. The decision was made at an emergency virtual meeting chaired by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin on Thursday, July 30th, 2026.

Concacaf, the governing body for football in North and Central America and host of this year's World Cup, also rejected the proposal. Its 41 member associations declared the World Cup "cannot be treated as an investment product."

The proposal, announced earlier this week by Fifa and its president Gianni Infantino, involves inviting third parties to make minority, non-controlling investments in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions. However, Uefa and Concacaf strongly oppose this, with Uefa stating, "We unanimously and unequivocally reject Fifa's proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors."

The atmosphere during Uefa's meeting was described as venomous, reflecting the strong opposition. FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt and chief executive Mark Bullingham were among those who spoke against the proposals.

In a statement, Uefa and its 55 member associations declared they "stand as one," emphasizing that the World Cup is "one of football's greatest sporting legacies" and "is not for sale."

Speaking to Radio 4's PM programme, McAllister highlighted the "real unity" among Uefa members and the "easy consensus over the need to take the strongest possible action given the existential threat that the Fifa proposal poses to our sport."

Uncertainty remains over the impact of these developments on upcoming tournaments, including the Women's Under-20 World Cup scheduled in Poland from September 5th, 2026, before Fifa's September 19th deadline for associations to claim an initial $20 million payment by January 1st.

Sources