FAI joins Uefa nations in World Cup boycott over FIFA plans

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has announced it will join the rest of Uefa's 55 national associations in boycotting all FIFA competitions. This move signals a significant rupture in global football, stemming from FIFA's controversial plan to sell a stake in the World Cup and other tournaments to private-equity firms.

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The Football Association of Ireland supports Uefa along with all member associations in rejecting Fifa’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the Fifa World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had proposed transferring commercial interests in its competitions to a new subsidiary, with up to 20 percent to be sold to private investors. He outlined that this plan would boost member associations' funding to $20 million over four years, with an additional $20 million bonus for those agreeing by September 19th. However, Uefa has strongly condemned the proposal, calling FIFA's presentation an "act of coercion."

In a unified statement following a meeting, Uefa's members declared they would boycott FIFA competitions until the proposals are abandoned and binding assurances are given against their resurrection. This collective action is seen as a powerful leverage, as a boycott by European nations would decimate the commercial value of all FIFA competitions. Adding to the pressure, all 41 member nations of the North American confederation Concacaf have also confirmed they are rejecting the plans, though they stopped short of a full boycott. FIFA has yet to issue a comment on the widespread opposition.

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The association believes that decisions of this significance must be founded on strong governance, transparency and meaningful consultation.

The FAI stated its support for Uefa's position, emphasizing that decisions of such significance require strong governance, transparency, and meaningful consultation. Consequently, Ireland's national teams will not participate in FIFA competitions while the proposals remain under consideration. Despite this stance, the FAI will continue preparations for its next FIFA competition, the 2027 Women's World Cup play-off against Kazakhstan on October 7th, in the hope that the dispute is resolved promptly.

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In solidarity with Uefa’s position, Ireland’s national teams will not participate in Fifa competitions while these proposals remain under consideration.