UEFA has threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions after FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed selling a stake in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors.The European football body announced the decision on Thursday after an emergency online meeting with its 55 member associations.“UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions,” UEFA said after the meeting.The next FIFA event on the calendar is the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Poland from September 5.Explaining its position, UEFA said that the World Cup should be under the control of football.“Some things are too important to sell,” UEFA said in a statement. “U FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It will always be. And until Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.”The emergency meeting came after Infantino offered FIFA’s 211 member associations an additional $20 million if they approved his proposal in mid-September.On Tuesday, Infantino revealed plans to create a new commercial company, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), valued at $20 billion. Under the proposal, private investors would have a 20% stake in the company. The main investor would be a New York investment company founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.In a letter to FIFA’s 211 member associations, Infantino said the approval of FFE would increase the basic funding each member receives over the next four years from $10 million to $20 million. It also projected that each member would receive $86 million in FIFA funding until 2038 instead of about $36 million.UEFA, where Infantino worked for several years and served as general secretary before becoming FIFA president in 2016, criticized the proposal.“This is not only a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of FIFA’s duty as the custodian of world football,” UEFA said.UEFA warns against private ownershipUEFA also explained why it believes that inviting outside investors into FIFA competitions could change football permanently.“The moment outside investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever,” UEFA said. “The commercial return becomes a permanent obligation. The expectations of investors become a daily pressure.”Infantino defended the proposal, saying that private investment would “turbocharge” the development of football around the world. Many of FIFA’s 211 member associations are heavily dependent on FIFA funding.According to UEFA, officials from around 40 member associations spoke during Thursday’s meeting. Many questioned why FIFA did not use its multi-billion dollar reserves to increase development funding instead of bringing in outside investors.“As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition as long as these proposals remain alive,” said the European football body, “unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.”Questions about Infantino’s futureThe proposal also raised questions about Infantino’s future as FIFA president.FIFA has set November 18 as the deadline for candidates to enter the presidential electionwhich will take place next March in Rabat, Morocco.Until recently, Infantino appeared to be re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term until 2031.Infantino is interested in taking on a commissioner role in FIFA Forward Enterprise after his presidency ends in 2031, football officials were quoted by the AP news agency.