UEFA has said it may still boycott FIFA competitions, arguing that FIFA's apology over its handling of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) investment plan fails to address the governing body's core concerns.
The governing body for association football in Europe stated that its member associations had made the conditions for ending the boycott threat clear, Caliber.Az reports, citing Euronews.
"UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to the non-participation in FIFA competitions. First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again. These conditions have not been met," it noted.
On Wednesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and senior FIFA officials met in Rabat, Morocco, to discuss the failed $20 billion FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal and the organisation's next steps.
The plan would have allowed third-party investors to acquire minority, non-controlling stakes in the FFE, a new subsidiary intended to manage FIFA's commercial and event operations. The proposal faced widespread opposition across world football, prompting UEFA to announce that its 55 member associations would boycott FIFA competitions "for so long as these proposals remain alive."
Following the meeting, FIFA made it clear that Infantino had the "full support" of Secretary General Mattias Grafström and members of the FIFA management board. The governing body also acknowledged that "mistakes" had been made in handling the FFE proposal and emphasised that it had apologised to member associations.
Responding to the announcement, UEFA said: "Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing."
Global footballers' union FIFPRO also strongly criticised FIFA's handling of the issue, describing the FFE controversy as "not merely a governance failure" but "a profound abuse of presidential power."
"We have noted FIFA's internal update from its meeting in Rabat, Morocco with deep concern,” it stressed.
The union added that rather than confronting what happened, it reaffirms support for the organisation’s leadership while reducing a fundamental governance and constitutional failure to a matter of “processes and communications” to be “improved."
By Bakhtiyar Abbasov
Source: caliber.az
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