Europe’s leading clubs threatened Club World Cup boycott in letter hours before Fifa shelved FFE

Europe’s leading clubs, through the European Football Clubs (EFC) group, warned in a letter to Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafström dated 31 July that they would not participate in future Club World Cups unless Gianni Infantino withdrew the privately backed Football Forward Enterprise proposal, issuing the ultimatum hours before Infantino shelved FFE in the early hours of 1 August.

The letter, seen by the Guardian and signed by EFC chief executive Charlie Marshall, told Fifa the group’s cooperation with future tournaments depended on Infantino backing down and completing a Fifa-EFC joint venture before television rights for the 2028 Women’s Club World Cup could be sold. It said Infantino’s actions could constitute a “substantial breach” of the bodies’ existing memorandum of understanding (MoU) and suggested that could be grounds for its termination. The note also floated the possibility that EFC and its member clubs might push back against the international match calendar and player release rules.

The EFC demanded a fully operational joint venture with exclusive commercial authority and warned of a complete withdrawal if that was not established well ahead of the women’s 2028 rights cycle, writing: “Unless a fully operational Fifa-EFC CWC joint venture, with exclusive authority over, among other things, all commercial and operational matters, is established well ahead of the women’s 2028 Fifa CWC rights cycle, EFC will not support – and its member clubs will not participate in – any future edition, including the women’s and men’s 2028 and 2029 Fifa CWC.” The letter said a framework for such a venture had already been agreed.

Central to EFC’s complaint was the impression that FFE would place all broadcasting, commercial and sponsorship rights under its control; the letter argued progress on the EFC–Fifa tie‑in had, “unlike the FFE proposal, made no meaningful progress over the past year”. Infantino shelved FFE after widespread condemnation, and Fifa is understood to have promised a swift meeting in response to EFC’s letter since Infantino climbed down.

EFC also pressed Fifa on financial transparency, raising a delay in distributing £185m of solidarity money and requesting full disclosure of last year’s Club World Cup finances. The letter stated: “We ask that you urgently share the final surplus revenue generated by the 2025 Fifa WC, together with a full profit and loss statement, so that all revenues, expenses and costs can be properly assessed in line with our partnership in this competition,” and added: “The absence of information on this matter, as with the lack of a solution on CWC solidarity for over a year, is also of serious concern and disappointment to EFC and our member clubs.” The Guardian reported that a notional average £50,000 windfall per top-flight club would be small compared with the £84m reward long since banked by last year’s winners Chelsea.

The letter reflected wider unrest among European clubs, with many angered by the lack of consultation over FFE; one major club told Fifa it would support EFC in any “firmer collective action” if necessary and called for “more rigorous and transparent governance processes”. EFC pointed out that its MoU, set to expire on 30 December 2030, includes acceptance of the international match calendar and the release rules, and warned that Fifa’s apparent commercial vision for FFE constituted a “serious breach of trust”.

EFC is chaired by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi, was established in 2008 and now has well over 800 members, though only a minority hold full voting rights. The letter also reiterated last month’s demand that Fifa deliver on a previous promise to fully integrate Al‑Khelaifi into the Fifa council and noted that a separate body, the Union of European Clubs, was created in 2023 to represent smaller sides but is not recognised by Uefa.

Fifa and EFC jointly operated last year’s Club World Cup, the first with 32 teams, using a short-term prototype for any future joint venture; no hosts have yet been announced for the new-look Women’s Club World Cup or for the next edition of the men’s tournament in 2029. In theory EFC’s boycott threat remains, although Fifa has been understood to promise a swift meeting intended to keep the joint venture on track.