UEFA threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions after FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed selling a stake in the World Cup and other tournaments to private equity 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 Women’s Under-20 World Cup, which will be held in Poland from September 5.Explaining its stance, UEFA said the World Cup should remain under the control of football.“Some things are too important to sell,” UEFA said in a statement. “The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always is. And as long as Europe has a voice, it will never be sold. “The emergency meeting came after Infantino offered FIFA’s 211 member associations an extra $20 million if they approve his proposal by mid-September.On Tuesday, Infantino revealed plans to create a new commercial company, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), worth $20 billion. Under the proposal, private investors will have a 20% stake in the company. The main investor is 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 the 211 associations of FIFA members, Infantino said that the approval of the FFE will increase the basic funding that each member will receive in the next four years from $ 10 million to $ 20 million. He also plans that each member will receive $86 million in FIFA funding until 2038 instead of about $36 million.UEFA, where Infantino worked for many 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 guardian of world football,” UEFA said.UEFA warns against private ownershipUEFA also explained why it believes that bringing outside investors into FIFA competitions could permanently change football.“Once external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football will change forever,” UEFA said. “Commercial return has become a permanent obligation.Infantino defended the proposal, saying private investment would “turbocharge” football’s development around the world. Many of FIFA’s 211 member associations rely heavily on FIFA funding.According to UEFA, officials from around 40 member associations spoke at Thursday’s meeting. Many have questioned why FIFA did not use its own multi-billion-dollar reserves to increase development funding instead of bringing in foreign 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,” the European football body said, “unless this proposal is abandoned in its entirety and assurances are given that FIFA will no longer open its management or competitions to private ownership.”Questions about Infantino’s future:The proposal also raises questions about Infantino’s future as FIFA president.FIFA has set November 18 as the deadline for candidates to enter the presidential election:which will take place next March in Rabat, Morocco.Until recently, Infantino appeared likely to be re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term until 2031.Infantino is interested in taking on a commissioner role in the FIFA Forward Enterprise after his presidency in 2031, football officials were quoted as saying by the AP news agency.