UEFA to withdraw FIFA boycott threat ahead of UCL draw

European football governing body UEFA is set to formally withdraw its threat to boycott FIFA competitions after receiving assurances Gianni Infantino’s failed World Cup sell-off plan will not be revived.

UEFA’s member federations are meeting in Monaco on Thursday ahead of the Champions League draw, where they are expected to end the threat.

The body, whose clubs and national teams dominate football’s global economy, reacted furiously when it emerged in late July that FIFA was aiming to create a commercial subsidiary to run its biggest events, such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.

The proposal would have allowed private investors to acquire stakes in a company created under the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative.

UEFA, under President Aleksander Ceferin, described the proposal in scathing terms, labelling it a “shady, opaque backroom deal”.

“No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive,” said the European governing body in a statement.

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However, with UEFA executives and European member associations meeting in the glitzy surrounds of Monaco on Thursday just before the Champions League draw, sources told AFP the threat to boycott FIFA tournaments would “likely” be withdrawn.

UEFA had demanded that the plan be ditched, but also sought assurances “that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again”.

It was gathered that on Thursday that they were satisfied that second condition had now been met.