UEFA warns FIFA it will pull European teams out of future World Cups over private investment plan

UEFA has threatened to withdraw all European national teams from future FIFA World Cups if world football’s governing body presses ahead with its controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise project.

The European governing body set out its position in a strongly worded statement published on its official X account on Thursday, following a meeting with its member associations. UEFA said there was unanimous backing across Europe for a hard line against the proposals.

“The World Cup is not for sale,” UEFA declared, arguing that football’s biggest tournament represents a “transgenerational legacy” that must not be handed over to private investors.

UEFA accuses FIFA of ‘abandoning’ its role

In its statement, UEFA criticised both the substance of the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan and the way it has been developed, saying it had been drawn up “in secret” and pushed close to approval without “any meaningful consultation” with those running the sport.

“It represents one of the greatest sporting legacies of football. Built over generations by players, national teams and supporters from every continent, it should never be ceded to private investors. It is both irresponsible and unacceptable that a proposal of such significance for football has been devised in secret and taken to a point of approval without any meaningful consultation with the leaders of this sport. This is not only a grave failure of leadership, but an abandonment by FIFA of its mission as guardian of global football,” the statement said.

UEFA framed the dispute as a fundamental question about who controls football’s showpiece event and for whose benefit it is run.

Commercial pressure ‘would dictate key decisions’

The European body stressed that its “opposition goes far beyond the process itself”, warning that opening up World Cup-related structures to private shareholders would inevitably alter priorities across the global game.

According to UEFA, once investors come in, “commercial profitability becomes a permanent obligation”. The organisation argued that investor demands would create “daily pressure”, so that “every decision concerning the international match calendar, competition formats and the future of football is no longer guided by the interests of the game, but by those of the shareholders”.

UEFA insisted such a shift would undermine the sport’s essence and distort long-term planning at international level.

Call for FIFA to scrap proposals entirely

UEFA said the stance taken by its leadership and member associations was “unequivocal”, urging FIFA to completely abandon the FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative and to “prioritise the interests of football” instead.

“We will never legitimise this model. No one has the moral authority to sell what they hold in trust for the next generation,” the statement added.

The European body also linked its opposition directly to participation in FIFA competitions, making clear that the consequences would be immediate and far-reaching if the project is not dropped.

No UEFA teams ‘will take part’ while plan remains

Following the talks with its national associations, UEFA said its members had agreed not to enter any FIFA tournament while the proposals remain on the table, unless FIFA provides concrete guarantees that such a model will be abandoned for good.

“A la suite des discussions d’aujourd’hui, aucune equipe nationale de l’UEFA ne participera a une competition de la FIFA tant que ces propositions resteront d’actualite, a moins que cette proposition n’ait ete abandonnee dans son integralite et que des assurances contraignantes n’aient ete donnees que la FIFA n’ouvrira plus jamais sa gouvernance ou ses competitions a la propriete privee,” the statement concluded.

FIFA has not publicly responded to the latest declaration in this escalating dispute, but UEFA’s position raises the prospect of future World Cups being staged without European teams if no compromise is reached.