Uefa will press on with its attempt to remove Gianni Infantino as Fifa president despite withdrawing the threat to boycott competitions. The 55 member associations, plus Europe's members on the Fifa Council, will on Thursday be presented with a letter which guarantees the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan will not be revived. The official removal of the boycott will be confirmed at Uefa's executive committee meeting in Monaco.
That will satisfy Uefa's demands and mean the Fifa Under-20 Women's World Cup can go ahead next week in Poland with six European teams. But BBC Sport understands Uefa is confident that a unity candidate can be found to stand against Infantino when he is up for re-election in March. The vote is likely to be close, with the backing of 106 of the 211 member associations needed to be elected.
However, Uefa has abandoned the idea of trying to force a vote of no confidence. It would require three quarters of the member associations, 159 votes, to pass the motion, which is considered unrealistic. No candidate has been identified, though Concacaf president Victor Montagliani is considered a serious option.
Nominations must be submitted by 18 November. BBC Sport understands that any vote is expected to be close, and for that reason even if Infantino was to win it could cause terminal damage to his presidency, with his legitimacy compromised. Last month, European football's 55 member associations voted to boycott all Fifa competitions until the FFE proposal was dropped "in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that Fifa will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership".
After the boycott was dropped, Fifa welcomed the development, saying it is "pleased that all qualified teams will be participating in the upcoming Under-20 Women's World Cup". Six European teams - England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and hosts Poland - are scheduled to play in the tournament. A Fifa spokesperson said it "strongly believes that football has the power to unite, even in challenging circumstances" and Fifa "remains committed" to developing the game in "full dialogue with the confederations and stakeholders". 'Change is necessary' - players unite against Fifa Uefa chief Ceferin rules out Fifa presidency bid On Tuesday, a group of former players published a statement saying "change is necessary" at the head of Fifa.
Former Manchester United and France defender Mikael Silvestre, who sits on Fifa's Players' Voice Panel, issued a statement on X on Monday in a post he titled "Enough is Enough!". The statement has been shared on social media by the likes of England defender Lucy Bronze, France's 1998 World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit and former England goalkeeper David James. However on Wednesday, a different group of former players including World Cup-winning Brazil captain Cafu, former Italy striker Christian Vieri, former Portugal captain Pepe and ex-Argentina international Esteban Cambiasso all posted supportive messages for Infantino on social media.
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