UEFA has reaffirmed that European national teams will continue to boycott competitions organised by FIFA, saying the conditions required to lift the policy have not been met.
The position was restated after a FIFA statement issued following a meeting in Rabat and a subsequent explanatory message sent to all 211 national associations. UEFA, led by Aleksander Ceferin, also confirmed that its stance towards FIFA president Gianni Infantino remains unchanged.
According to Spanish newspaper AS, UEFA told the publication that European teams would not take part in FIFA tournaments because the requirements set for ending the boycott had not been fulfilled.
In a memorandum sent to AS, UEFA repeated the position it has adopted over the organisation of FIFA competitions and the future direction of football’s governing body.
“UEFA associations have been clear about the conditions for not participating in FIFA competitions,” UEFA said.
“First, the proposals aimed at privatising the main competitions had to be withdrawn. Secondly, guarantees had to be provided that such attempts to distort the game would never happen again.”
UEFA said neither of those conditions had been satisfied.
The organisation also referred to a statement it released on Saturday, in which it said it had lost confidence in Infantino’s presidency. UEFA said that view remained in place.
“These conditions have not been met,” it added. “In addition, UEFA made it unequivocally clear in its statement issued on Saturday that it had lost confidence in the leadership of Infantino. This position still stands.”
UEFA also dismissed the significance of a further announcement made on Monday. That announcement said that some people working for the FIFA president supported him.
“As for yesterday’s announcement, stating that some of the people working for the FIFA president and whose professional careers depend on his favour support him, it changes nothing,” UEFA said.
The dispute centres on UEFA’s objections to proposals concerning the future control and commercial organisation of FIFA’s major competitions. The European governing body has demanded that those proposals be withdrawn and that assurances be given that similar efforts to alter the nature of the sport will not be repeated.
Until those demands are met, UEFA says its policy will remain in force. Its latest message therefore indicates that the disagreement is not limited to the disputed proposals, but also includes the relationship between European football and Infantino’s presidency.
The statement issued after the Rabat meeting and the message sent to the 211 national associations had been viewed as an attempt to clarify FIFA’s position. UEFA’s response makes clear that it does not consider those developments sufficient to change its decision.
The organisation’s latest memorandum maintains both elements of its stance: European national teams will not participate in FIFA-organised tournaments under the current circumstances, and UEFA continues to say it has no confidence in Infantino’s leadership.
