UEFA: Infantino's apology changes nothing, FIFA boycott stands
European football's governing body UEFA says it will keep boycotting FIFA events despite FIFA's apology over how it handled a proposed private investment plan
RastinewsEuropean football's governing body UEFA is standing by its threat to boycott FIFA events, despite FIFA's apology over how it handled a proposal for a private investment plan.
In a statement issued Thursday, UEFA said: "UEFA member federations have set out extremely clearly the terms of their decision not to participate in FIFA's competitions."
The statement continued: "First, the proposals to sell off the flagship tournaments needed to be withdrawn; second, guarantees were required that similar attempts to distort football in this way would never be repeated. These conditions have not been met."
On Wednesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and senior FIFA officials met at an emergency crisis summit in Morocco to discuss the failed $20 billion "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE) proposal and the path forward for world football's governance.
The plan, which would have created FFE as a new subsidiary to run FIFA's commercial and organizational operations and would have given third parties minority, non-controlling stakes, drew fierce criticism across the football world. UEFA had said at the time that its 55 member federations would boycott FIFA tournaments "for as long as these proposals remain on the table."
But after the talks in Rabat, FIFA issued a statement saying Infantino had the "full support" of Secretary General Mattias Grafström and FIFA Council members.
FIFA also acknowledged that "mistakes" had been made over FFE and said it had apologized to member federations.
Responding on Thursday, UEFA said: "Yesterday's announcement that some individuals employed by the FIFA President - and whose careers rest in his hands - agree with him changes nothing."
FIFPRO, the global players' union, also issued a sharp statement Thursday on FFE and FIFA's meeting in Morocco, saying the fiasco was "not merely a governance failure" but "a profound abuse of presidential authority."
"We note with great concern the internal briefing FIFA has taken from the meeting in Rabat," FIFPRO said. "Rather than confronting what has happened, they are reaffirming support for the organization's leadership by reducing a fundamental governance and constitutional breach to nothing more than 'processes and communication that need to be improved.'"
Source: Euronews