"The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family." That's not a disgruntled tweet. That's UEFA's official statement — and it signals a crisis at the top of world football that a simple U-turn isn't going to fix.
The flashpoint: FIFA's plan to sell a 20% stake in a new commercial entity — one set up to run the World Cup and Club World Cup — to a U.S. investment group called Thrive Eternal for $4.2 billion (£3.1bn). Thrive Eternal is run by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law. FIFA announced it on Tuesday. By Friday, under threat of a full European boycott of FIFA competitions, Infantino pulled the plug.
The deal that blew up the room
UEFA didn't just object to the substance of the proposal — it went after the process. "Secret schemes on fast track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game," their statement read. They want to identify who was responsible and hold them accountable. That's not boilerplate diplomacy. That's a governing body putting Infantino on notice.
All 55 UEFA member associations had pledged to boycott FIFA competitions. Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation both rejected the plans too. That's three of FIFA's six confederations publicly refusing to play ball — a level of coordinated resistance Infantino clearly didn't anticipate when this was being quietly assembled.
Infantino, who has held the FIFA presidency since 2016 and was previously UEFA's own Secretary General, framed his reversal as listening to "all the views." UEFA called it what it was: a proposal that "created divisions" and had to be abandoned. The $4.2 billion never materialised. The reputational damage already has.
What happens next actually matters
Infantino's current term runs until 2027, but he's up for re-election in March, with candidacy submissions closing November 18. UEFA says it will work with confederations to ensure this kind of deal "cannot occur again" — and explicitly states "no option should be off the table." That's a pointed phrase when a presidential election is weeks away.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG president and UEFA Executive Committee member, had been floated as a challenger. His spokesperson shut that down immediately on Saturday — "no ambition, no intention and no interest in the FIFA role." So if there's to be a serious rival candidate, they haven't emerged yet.
- FIFA announced the stake sale plan on Tuesday
- UEFA threatened a full boycott on Thursday; Concacaf and AFC followed
- FIFA abandoned the proposal on Friday
- UEFA released its confidence vote statement on Saturday
- Infantino faces re-election in March; candidacy deadline is November 18
UEFA ended its statement calling this "a victory for the whole game" — but added that rebuilding trust in FIFA "has only just begun." Given everything that unfolded in 96 hours, that might be the most accurate sentence anyone's written about FIFA governance in years.
