European nations vow to boycott FIFA over private equity plan

Union of European Football Association members voted unanimously Thursday to boycott future World Cups if FIFA

moves forward with plans to sell stakes in its competitions to private

investors.

CONCACAF announced that its 41 members from North America,Central America and the Caribbean also are opposed to FIFA's proposal.

The decision by the UEFA’s 55 member nations to "unequivocally reject" FIFA president Gianni Infantino's recent plan was made during an emergency virtual meeting.

FIFA responded hours later with a press release that read in part, "Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain."

This comes after FIFA outlined a plan Tuesday to raise $20 billion in outside investments by

selling shares to a private equity group, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).

The proposal will soon be presented to the 211 member associations and FIFA's 37-member council, which would be the sole final decision-makers, a FIFA spokesperson said.