UEFA says ‘conditions have not been met’ for lifting its World Cup boycott

UEFA said Thursday that “conditions have not been met” to lift its boycott of the World Cup despite FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise project.

In a statement to Sky News, UEFA said that its associations had been very clear on their boycott of the World Cup as "proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn, and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again” which the organization argues that assurances have not been made.

“These conditions have not been met. In addition, UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds,” the organization said.

European football’s governing body also rejected the credibility of a joint FIFA statement issued after emergency talks in Morocco on Wednesday, dismissing FIFA’s claim that Infantino had secured the “full support” of its Management Board.

The escalating dispute has cast doubt over European teams’ participation in FIFA competitions, with UEFA’s boycott threatening involvement in next month’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland, where England is among the participating teams.

“Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA president (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing,” UEFA said.

-Abandoned proposal fuels loss of confidence in FIFA

The abandoned proposal has triggered growing criticism of FIFA’s leadership.

UEFA said FIFA’s current leadership had “lost” the confidence of much of the football community, while the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) called for “a comprehensive reckoning” with Infantino’s presidency, arguing that the episode exposed serious failures in governance and transparency.

FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger also distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had no involvement in its development.

He described the decision to withdraw it as “absolutely necessary and beyond question,” adding that football should be governed by an independent body operating with transparency and integrity.

Separately, Jordan Football Association President Prince Ali bin Al Hussein accused FIFA’s leadership of attempting to link financial assistance to support for Infantino’s reelection, an allegation FIFA has not publicly addressed.

Writing on US social media company X, Prince Ali said Jordan was still awaiting prize money earned by its players after finishing as runners-up at the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar in December.

He alleged that during the World Cup, he was verbally told that endorsing Infantino would help the Jordanian federation resolve its outstanding issues with FIFA.

Prince Ali said Jordan had not supported Infantino previously and would not do so now, describing the situation as one that “amounts to blackmail.”