UEFA's 55 member associations will hold an emergency meeting later this week to discuss FIFA's controversial proposal to sell stakes in its flagship competitions.
World football's governing body has unveiled plans to create a new commercial subsidiary that would oversee its premier tournaments, including the men's and women's World Cups and the Club World Cup. External investors would be allowed to purchase stakes in the venture.
FIFA argues the move would generate significantly more revenue, enabling greater investment in football development and increased funding for its member associations. However, critics fear it would hand excessive influence over the sport's most prestigious competitions to private investors.
UEFA took the unusual step of publicly condemning the proposals before FIFA officially released them on Tuesday, responding to reports in the Financial Times and The Times. European football's governing body said the plans had "crossed a line."
The emergency meeting, which will be held virtually, will give UEFA's members the opportunity to determine a collective response.
Given the depth of opposition across Europe combined with the Football Association's claim that it was not consulted before FIFA published the proposals shortly after UEFA's statement—it would be a surprise if the possibility of a World Cup boycott was not at least discussed.
Although UEFA represents only 55 of FIFA's 211 member associations, it includes many of the world's strongest football nations.
Six of the eight quarter-finalists at this summer's World Cup were European, including eventual champions Spain. European teams also made up five of the eight quarter-finalists in 2022 and six in 2018, underlining the continent's dominance at the highest level.
UEFA is well aware that any FIFA competition would lose significant commercial and sporting value without the participation of Europe's leading nations.
FIFA insists it has a responsibility to explore proposals that will accelerate the global growth of football. However, critics fear the pursuit of greater revenue could eventually lead to the men's and women's World Cups, as well as the Club World Cup, being staged more frequently and expanded even further.
Such changes would place additional strain on an already overcrowded football calendar, which has become increasingly congested following the expansion of UEFA's own club competitions.
One senior source within the English game told BBC Sport that the threat posed by FIFA's proposals ranks among the biggest challenges football has faced in recent years, comparing it to the failed European Super League project that collapsed within 48 hours in 2021 following widespread opposition.
Unlike the Super League, however, there is little expectation that FIFA will retreat from its plans.
FIFA says the new structure would allow it to increase global football development funding to $10 billion (£7.5 billion). It also intends to offer each of its 211 member associations access to up to $20 million (£15 million) in one-off capital investment.
The latest dispute further deepens the long-running tensions between FIFA and UEFA. Relations have been strained since former Arsenal manager and FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, Arsène Wenger, proposed staging the World Cup every two years in 2021—a plan that UEFA strongly opposed.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin also boycotted this month's World Cup final in protest over several controversial decisions during the tournament.
Among the issues that angered UEFA was the intervention of U.S. President Donald Trump, who helped turn USA forward Folarin Balogun's one-match suspension into a suspended ban, allowing him to feature in the Americans' last-16 victory over Belgium.
