In a shocking move, UEFA put out a statement on Thursday, 30 July, in which it states in no uncertain terms that its member associations will not be participating in the 2030 FIFA World Cup if the world football governing body goes through with its plans of partly privatizing the primary international football competition.
‘UEFA and its 55 member associations stand as one. We unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors,’ UEFA’s press release declares in its very first sentence.
‘As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,’ it goes on to state.
That would mean that five out of the just eight nations that have won the World Cup so far—namely, Italy, Germany, England, France, and Spain—would not even be contesting a World Cup appearance in the qualifiers.
However, as frightful as it sounds, it is only in theory.
The real unexpected turn of events is that all 55 UEFA member associations reached such a strong unanimous position in such a short time. As some of the quotes given to the press from people involved suggest, they found out about FIFA’s new plans just days before the UEFA statement was published.
What Are FIFA’s New Plans with the World Cup?
FIFA plans to create a new commercial company with some of the FIFA World Cup brand’s rights and sell a minority stake in that company to private investors. FIFA itself is a non-profit organization.
However, such a swift and forceful response from FIFA’s largest continental association basically puts these plans to bed.
Football fans have woken up to similarly shocking news before, and not that long ago either.
In April 2021, 12 clubs from three of Europe’s top domestic leagues announced that they were forming their own European Super League, organized outside of UEFA’s purview. At the time, it felt like an irreversible schism in the football world—but for just a few days.
Intense backlash from UEFA, domestic leagues, fans, and even national governments made the clubs back out, and the initiative is now officially defunct. However, it certainly facilitated the UEFA Champions League format reforms, so it did have a significant lasting impact.
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