Gianni Infantino: Uefa set to drop Fifa tournament boycott threat
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Uefa set to drop its threat of boycotting Fifa competitions
Image source:
Getty Images
Image caption:
Gianni Infantino has been president of Fifa since February 2016
By Dan Roan
Sports editor
Published 20 minutes ago
Uefa is set to drop its threat of boycotting Fifa competitions, having received assurances there will be no repeat of Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors, BBC Sport has been told.
The matter will be discussed at a meeting of Uefa’s executive committee in Monaco on Thursday.
Earlier this month, European football’s governing body said that despite Infantino’s plan being aborted following widespread condemnation, the conditions required to prevent a boycott "had not been met".
"Assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again," Uefa insisted.
That came after Infantino had told national member associations that the FFE proposal was "now off the table", and apologised for "errors".
If the boycott threat is lifted, it will mean next month’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland will proceed as planned.
Six European teams – England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and hosts Poland – are scheduled to play in the tournament.
Uefa has led the backlash against Infantino, and is expected to continue to push for an overhaul of Fifa’s leadership. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has said he expects Infantino to resign or to face a challenge to his role from another candidate at elections in March.
"This isn’t a climbdown," said one source close to the discussions, adding that Infantino’s opponents "will continue until there are wholesale changes".
"It is not a Uefa defeat, rather the reality of avoiding hurting young players [over a] once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," they added.
"The actions and insistence on change will continue and will win out in the end."
Last month, European football’s 55 member associations
voted to boycott all Fifa competitions
until the Fifa Forward Enterprises proposal was dropped "in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that Fifa will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership".
Fifa has been approached for comment.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said this month she would not support a boycott of the U20 World Cup.
"I am not generally in favour of sporting boycotts full stop, because I think they divide people from one another. I think they unfairly penalise athletes and competitors who are not responsible for the reason that these boycotts take place," she said.
"What I would like to see actually is football coming together, resolving this, a change of leadership, a change of direction and a very clear message that football belongs to its fans and it will not have women and girls penalised when the women’s game is going from strength to strength. And our Lionesses are leading the world in that."
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