Uefa maintains that World Cup boycott still stands despite Infantino’s apology

Uefa has doubled down on its threat to boycott Fifa-run competitions and reiterated its loss of confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency.European football’s governing body said Fifa’s public backing of Infantino on Wednesday night “changes nothing” and explained it had not been provided with certainty that repeats of the past nine days’ crisis will not occur. Last week Uefa’s 55 member associations agreed to boycott Fifa tournaments if Infantino did not withdraw his privately-funded Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) and, although the scheme was scrapped last Friday, it said the terms necessary to avert the boycott have not been met.“Uefa’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to their non participation in Fifa competitions,” a statement read. “First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.“These conditions have not been met.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.”It leaves the turmoil enveloping football’s governance no closer to being resolved. If no accord is reached before the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which begins in Poland on 5 September, that would be the first tournament subjected to a Uefa-led boycott.Uefa remain hopeful that they can exploit divisions within Fifa’s leadership despite the Infantino-led show of unity following a meeting of some of their management board in Rabat on Wednesday.There were several notable absentees, however, and the Guardian has been told that Arsène Wenger declined an invitation to travel to Morocco in his capacity as Fifa’s chief of global development because of a desire to distance himself from Infantino.The former Arsenal manager had launched a scathing attack on the World Cup sell-off plans the previous day, saying it was “absolutely necessary and beyond question” that they were scrapped, as well as calling for greater “transparency and integrity” from his employers.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn contrast to Wenger, Fifa’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who last week described the proposals as “the project of one person”, was not invited to the summit in a development that will raise further questions over his future. In addition Jill Ellis, chief football officer, and Sarai Bareman, chief women’s football officer, were not present in Rabat.While Fifa’s statement explained that separate apologies had been made to the Fifa council and member associations for their exclusion from the FFE process and that it was committed to a review, the Guardian understands those sentiments cut no ice with a large percentage of Fifa council members and that the mood remains unhappy.