UEFA has stated that its desire to boycott FIFA competitions because of FIFA President Gianni Infantino still stands despite the world football governing body jettison its earlier plans to commercialise the football.

This could mean that England, Germany, Italy, Spain and other European countries will not send representatives to FIFA competitions if UEFA concludes on its threat.

In a strongly worded statement, a UEFA spokesperson told Sky News: 'UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to the non-participation in FIFA competitions. First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn, and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again. These conditions have not been met. In addition, UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino's presidency. That position holds. Yesterday's announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing.'

CAF endorses Infantino

Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee has unanimously endorsed the “Joint Update” by the FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary General Mattias Grafström on the FIFA Forward Enterprise (“FFE”) and will continue to focus on making African Football amongst the best in the world and adhering to governance and transparency global best practices.

CAF said it has taken note of the statements in the “Joint Update” saying: “We acknowledge mistakes were made in the process of the proposed establishment of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (‘FFE’). It was certainly not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and it should have been handled differently. We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again. With this in mind, we will conduct a necessary review, and a report will be presented to the FIFA Council at its next scheduled meeting. Furthermore as already known, the proposal which would have been subject to the approval of the FIFA Member Associations and the FIFA Council, is now off the table. There are always lessons to be learned, and we will continue to improve our processes in light of this experience. In this instance however it is important to stress that although mistakes were made, everything that was done, was done in full compliance with the FIFA Regulatory Framework.”

ASA