This proposal was unanimously rejected by UEFA’s national associations, as well as by many other federations and confederations of all sizes across the world.

UEFA welcomes FIFA’s decision to withdraw its plan to sell equity stakes in its competitions, including the World Cup, to private interests.

This proposal was unanimously rejected by UEFA’s national associations, as well as by many other federations and confederations of all sizes around the world, whose role is to protect football.

UEFA thanks all the fans, leagues, clubs, players, individuals, associations, and confederations who expressed their opposition to this project, alongside several heads of government, heads of state, and observers who demonstrated to the FIFA President that football is not for sale.

We cannot continue like this, with secret projects drawn up in haste, hatched by anonymous individuals, and of doubtful benefit to our sport. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account.

In the days and weeks ahead, UEFA will rightfully work with its associations, in close cooperation with other confederations, to reflect on how such events could have occurred and to devise a plan to ensure that this never happens again. This review must be thorough and comprehensive. No options should be off the table. The current leadership of FIFA has lost not only the trust of UEFA, but also that of many other members of the football family.

When Gianni Infantino sought the trust and votes of FIFA’s member associations to be elected president in 2016, he stated: “Of course, we have a duty of transparency. I have been transparent for the last fifteen years of my life at UEFA. You will have a role to play every day in the life of FIFA,” before declaring to the assembled stakeholders: “FIFA’s money is your money. It is not the FIFA president’s money. It is your money. You are the national associations, and FIFA’s money must be used for the development of football, and nothing else.”

On both of these promises, he has failed. The disgraceful, opaque, backroom deal he prepared and attempted to impose was anything but transparent.

And with reserves exceeding USD 5 billion, he has also failed to use the associations’ money for the benefit of our sport.

UEFA will immediately begin work with its partners and stakeholders around the world, at all levels of our sport, to propose a new model for distributing resources through the existing FIFA Forward programme.

We must start using a portion of this money sitting idle in FIFA’s bank accounts to provide the boost that grassroots football and our entire sport need in each of FIFA’s 211 member associations. But we have no need to sell off the family silver to finance it.

This is a victory for our entire sport. But it must not stop here. The proposal has been withdrawn. The task of restoring trust in FIFA is only just beginning.