European soccer leaders to boycott the World Cup in an unprecedented step

FIFA President Gianni Infantino looks on prior to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 quarter final match between Fluminense FC and Al Hilal at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fl., on July 4, 2025. Alex Grimm/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Alex Grimm/Getty Images North America UEFA, Europe's main soccer body, said on Thursday its members would boycott the men's and women's World Cup unless FIFA abandons a controversial plan to sell stakes in in the tournament to private investors. A boycott of one of the world's top sporting competitions would mark an unprecedented step for European nations. It also threatens to imperil a proposal unveiled by FIFA this week to create a company to handle all commercial rights to its tournaments, including the marquee World Cup. The dispute comes ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which will mark the tournament's centenary, celebrating 100 years since the inaugural edition in Uruguay in 1930. The event will be staged mainly in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with centenary matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. Under the proposal, FIFA would also sell minority stakes in that newly-created companies to private investors, including ...