After receiving assurances, UEFA is prepared to drop its threat to boycott FIFA events, as FIFA President Gianni Infantino will not revisit the plan to sell World Cup shares to private investors.
UEFA's Executive Committee will meet in Monaco on Thursday to discuss the matter. Previously, UEFA stated that although Infantino's plan had been shelved after widespread criticism, the conditions for lifting the boycott "have not yet been met." UEFA insisted at the time on assurances that such "attempts to distort football in this way" would not happen again.
Prior to this, Infantino had informed national and regional member associations that the FIFA Progressive Enterprises program was "no longer on the table" and apologized for this "mistake." If the boycott threat is lifted, the U20 Women's World Cup, scheduled for next month in Poland, will proceed as planned. Six European teams—England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and host nation Poland—will participate.
UEFA has been a major force opposing Infantino and is expected to continue pushing for reforms to FIFA's leadership. UEFA President Ceferin stated that he expects Infantino to either resign or face a challenge from other candidates in the March elections.
A source close to the negotiations said this was "not a concession." He added that Infantino's opponents "will continue until a radical change occurs." He also stated that this was "not a failure for UEFA, but a realistic consideration to avoid harming young players and ruining their once-in-a-lifetime opportunities."
Last month, 55 European member associations voted to boycott all FIFA events until the "FIFA Forward Enterprise" plan is "completely withdrawn" and a binding guarantee is obtained to ensure that FIFA will never again open its governance or events to private capital.
British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said this month that she would not support a boycott of the U20 Women's World Cup. She said she generally opposes sport boycotts because they divide people and unfairly punish athletes and participants who did not cause the boycott.
Lisa Nandy hopes to see the football community unite to resolve the controversy, push for leadership changes and a shift in direction, and clearly send a message: football belongs to the fans, and women's football and female players should not be punished for the sport's flourishing. She also stated that England women's football is leading the world.
On Tuesday, a group of former players released a statement saying that FIFA's leadership "must change." Mikael Silvestre, a member of FIFA's Players' Voice group and a former Manchester United and French national team defender, posted a statement on social media on Monday titled "Enough is enough!"
Subsequently, England defender Lucy Bronzer, Emmanuel Petit, a member of France's 1998 World Cup winning team, and former England goalkeeper David James, among others, shared the statement.
However, on Wednesday, another group of former players voiced their support for Infantino on social media, including Brazil's World Cup-winning captain Cafu, former Italian striker Cristian Vieri, former Portuguese captain Pepe, and former Argentine international Esteban Cambiasso.
These players are all officially recognized as FIFA Legends. In a statement, Vieri said that over the past decade, the world has witnessed the work FIFA and Gianni Infantino have done to secure representation for players in football, a representation that previously did not exist. They also expressed their continued support for the significant progress the sport has made over the past ten years, ensuring that these achievements continue to benefit football participants worldwide.
