FIFA scheme is "rampant capitalism" as World Cup boycotts threatened

European nations are discussing the prospect of boycotting future World Cups if FIFA president Gianni Infantino continues with his plans to sell off part of the governing body to private equity investors.

According to UK media outlets, UEFA, who slammed Infantino’s proposal to drive revenue from shares of the event, are set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss their conflict with the idea.

Infantino has announced he wants to sell off a 20 per cent stake of the business operations of the World Cup which could raise more than $6 billion.

“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously,” the European body said in a statement.

“So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not Fifa’s to sell.”

National bodies are set to meet on Thursday (local time) to discuss how they will move forward.

Sky News UK claims "there is a willingness for European nations to use the ultimate threat of boycotting the World Cup if Infantino does not back down."

SEN's Adam Peacock has described Infantino's rumoured plan as "rampant capitalism at its best" as the plan would mean a large growth in profits for the FIFA President.

"This is just where sport is going, is where football is going, and where does it stop?," Peacock said on SEN 1170 Drive.

"That's the question. Where does it stop? How much can you sell? How much should be kept the way it is (and) how much should evolve?

"It seems Gianni Infantino and FIFA, and in particular Infantino, is dead keen on making it evolve with a commercial eye.

(It's) rampant capitalism at its best.

"It's patently clear that the most important thing for Infantino is to firstly, maintain his power, and secondly, create as much wealth for the game, but at what cost and at what benefit for him.

"He will always turn around and say, 'no, I'm doing this for the game', and you can't tell him he's absolutely lying, but the suspicion is, 'hang on a minute, what's happening here'?

"Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc.

"On face value, just reading this report, not knowing the detail of it, it stinks."

Chief Sports writer at the UK Telegraph, Oliver Brown, said: “Football must be saved from megalomaniac Infantino”.

“I hesitate to describe Infantino’s rhetoric as Orwellian, simply because George Orwell himself would likely have found his distortions too brazen to be believed,” Brown wrote.

“Just look at his latest hits: first he bestowed the “Fifa Peace Prize” on a US leader who promptly threatened to wipe out the civilisation of Iran in one evening.

“And guess who the first investor in the frame is? Thrive Eternal, a venture capital company created by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared, Trump’s son-in-law.

“If you thought the entanglements between Fifa and the Trump clan were uncomfortable already, this threatens to be only the beginning.”

Meanwhile, The Sun’s Arsenal reporter, Joshua Hall, said the latest scheme made Sepp Blatter “the lesser of two evils”.

“With each outlandish blueprint Infantino lays out, football is becoming more and more unrecognisable,” he wrote.

“The average fan is being priced out of going to games, player welfare is being thrown to the wayside and the wallets of the elite are brimming at the same time.

“Fifa will insist that this influx of cash will help the 211 national associations by giving them a financial boost.

“If Infantino continues to get his way, football’s soul will be ripped away and so will the reason we all love watching it.

“Remarkably, we are getting close to viewing Sepp Blatter as the lesser of two evils.”