World Cup news LIVE: Uefa debate boycott at emergency meeting after Gianni Infantino bombshell

It’s set to start at 2pm this afternoon and will be held virtually, with the heads of the 55 member associations logging onto what will essentially be a Zoom meeting.

The meeting won’t be streamed online, but news from what is discussed is certain to trickle out over the course of the afternoon.

Gianni Infantino needs a majority vote from Fifa’s 211 member associations (50 per cent + one) and the backing from the Fifa Council. He has confirmed that a vote will take place on 19 September, which is just 53 days after the plans were leaked to the media via The Times on Tuesday.

Uefa’s members make up 55 of Fifa’s 211 national associations – so they cannot stop the vote outright and they would need support from at least one other confederation, such as North America, Asia, Africa or South America. But where Uefa do have leverage is that the World Cup would not be the same without countries Spain, France and England – three of the four semi-finalists from this summer’s tournament.

The threat of a boycott is a powerful card to play – but do they have the courage to play it?

On Tuesday, Fifa revealed plans to create a new subsidiary to manage the commercial rights and delivery of the World Cup and other major tournaments, with Gianni Infantino confirming that the new company – ‘Fifa Forward Enterprises (FFE)’ – would be open to external capital investment.

Private investors will be sought to “make minority, non-controlling investments” in the company. The investor group for FFE is set to be led by Thrive Eternal, founded earlier this year by Joshua Kushner – the brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Fifa is working with bankers at JPMorgan to raise billions of dollars by bringing in external investors to take as much as a 20 per cent stake.

In a statement, Fifa said it would “raise up to $4.2bn later this year” to fund the project, “based on an initial equity valuation of $20bn by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests … All net benefits will be reinvested back into football worldwide.”

Uefa, the governing body of European football and a long-term critic of Fifa president Gianni Infantino, said in a statement: “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross.

“Uefa takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game. The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially.

“None of us are the owners of football. It is not Fifa’s to sell.”

Uefa will hold an emergency meeting this afternoon, where the prospect of boycotting the World Cup will be discussed as leverage against Gianni Infantino’s controversial plan to privatise the tournament.

Next steps with the European Union will also be raised, as the European Commission scrutinises whether Infantino’s project contravenes protections that are afforded as regards competition law.

Fifa’s plan has provoked fury in most of the European game, to the point that an alliance of all major stakeholders is gaining strength.

Bodies including the Football Association, European Leagues, European Football Clubs, the Union of European Clubs, the Football Supporters Association and Football Supporters Europe have already released strident statements, mostly condemning the lack of proper process, but with some going much further and demanding drastic change at the top of the game.