Uefa says Fifa boycott remains despite Infantino apology

Uefa said in a statement that its planned boycott of Fifa-run competitions remains in place despite Gianni Infantino’s apology and Fifa’s public backing of him on Wednesday night. The European body said Fifa’s statement "changes nothing" and that the conditions required to call off a boycott have not been met.

Last week Uefa’s 55 member associations agreed to boycott Fifa tournaments unless Infantino withdrew the privately-funded Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE). Although the FFE was scrapped last Friday, Uefa said the terms necessary to avert the boycott have not been fulfilled and that it had not been given certainty that repeats of the past nine days’ crisis will not occur.

"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"First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.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."

The dispute has left football’s governance in turmoil and Uefa said the situation is not yet resolved. The European body said it remains hopeful of exploiting divisions within Fifa’s leadership despite an Infantino-led display of unity after a meeting of some of Fifa’s management board in Rabat on Wednesday.

There were several notable absences from the Rabat meeting, 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 he wanted 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.

In 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, a development the Guardian said 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.

Fifa’s statement said separate apologies had been made to the Fifa council and member associations for their exclusion from the FFE process and that Fifa was committed to a review, but the Guardian understands those sentiments cut no ice with a large percentage of Fifa council members and that the mood remains unhappy.

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 to be subjected to a Uefa-led boycott.