Uefa to hold emergency meeting on Thursday over Fifa World Cup plans
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- Uefa called an emergency virtual meeting for Thursday afternoon to coordinate its response to Fifa's plans, having previously accused Fifa of "crossing a line"
- Fifa sent all 211 member associations a letter giving them until September 19 to accept a deal that includes an initial $20m (£15m) tranche of a $40m (£30m) one-off payout, or forfeit the offer
- Thrive Eternal, the investment vehicle of Joshua Kushner, described by the source as the brother-in-law of US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, is leading the private finance push for the 20% stake in Fifa competitions
- The Football Association was among bodies furious at learning of the proposal only through the media; FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt was among Fifa vice-presidents not given advance warning
- Fifa president Gianni Infantino defended the plans in a video as "an offer, not an obligation" and "a golden opportunity to turbocharge the development of the game globally"
- European Leagues, Fifpro and La Liga president Javier Tebas joined the backlash; Tebas accused Infantino of running "an electoral campaign financed with the future of football" ahead of March's Fifa congress
- Czech Republic FA president David Trunda broke ranks as a Uefa member broadly supportive, citing "pragmatic benefits for Czech football"
Why it matters: Three of the 2026 World Cup semi-finalists sit inside Uefa's 55 members, and with Asian, South American and CONCACAF federations echoing Uefa's alarm, Infantino faces a near-unified governing-body revolt. The September 19 deadline forces every association to either publicly back the privatisation-linked $40m payout or reject it on the record and forfeit the cash.
