UEFA is reportedly likely to withdraw its threat to boycott FIFA tournaments after receiving the assurances it demanded from world football’s governing body, providing embattled president Gianni Infantino with some relief as a group of football legends publicly rallies behind him.
The boycott threat emerged following Infantino’s controversial and ultimately abandoned attempt to open FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investment.
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UEFA, led by president Aleksander Ceferin, had branded the proposal a “shady, opaque backroom deal” and maintained its boycott threat even after Infantino scrapped the plan just days after its launch.
European football’s governing body wanted further assurances “that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again”.
Those assurances now appear to have arrived.
“Yes it is likely,” a source told AFP when asked whether UEFA would withdraw its boycott threat.
“I think the reassurance we sought has been received so it fulfils the second of the two criteria we set.”
The looming Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland has also complicated UEFA’s position, with the tournament beginning on September 5 and major European nations including France, England and Spain expected to participate.
“It is complicated to maintain a unanimous position among the 55 [UEFA members] in these circumstances,” another source said.
“In fact, there is a real risk of splitting the anti-Infantino bloc.”
The removal of the threat would not signal the end of opposition to Infantino, who continues to face calls to step down and is seeking a fourth and final term as FIFA president next March.
Several member associations have withdrawn their support following the private investment scandal, with Italy becoming the latest on Wednesday.
But amid the growing pressure, some of football’s biggest former stars have now publicly rallied behind Infantino.
World Cup winners Fabio Cannavaro and Cafu are among a group of former players to throw their support behind the FIFA president.
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“Over the last ten years, world football has improved,” Cannavaro, who won the 2006 World Cup with Italy, wrote on social media.
He added that footballers “have once again taken centre stage” under Infantino’s leadership.
“Infantino has done a great job… Not acknowledging that would be intellectually dishonest.”
Brazilian great Cafu, who lifted the World Cup in 1994 and 2002, also backed Infantino.
“We have followed the work of FIFA and president Infantino to promote the representation of players in football, something that didn’t exist before,” Cafu wrote.
Roberto Carlos, Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and Jared Borgetti have posted similar messages of support.
Their intervention comes after another group of former players, led by former Manchester United and Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre, called for change at the top of FIFA.
That group warned earlier this week that “power has clouded the current leadership’s ability to distinguish between their own interests and what is truly best for football”.
Infantino had previously appeared likely to run unopposed in next March’s presidential election, but the fallout from the scandal has changed the landscape.
Ceferin has ruled himself out of challenging for the presidency, while CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is considered the likeliest potential challenger ahead of the November 18 deadline for candidates to declare.
For Infantino, the expected withdrawal of UEFA’s boycott threat removes one immediate danger to his presidency, while the public backing of some of football’s biggest names comes at a crucial time as the battle over his future intensifies.