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UEFA ramp up pressure on defiant Gianni Infantino and insist they WILL boycott the World Cup if he refuses to quit - after under-fire FIFA president vowed to fight on
The Daily Mail ^ | August 6, 2026 | MIKE KEEGAN, BOBBY MANZI, MICHAEL PAVITT

Posted on 08/06/2026 8:03:37 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican

UEFA is set to continue its boycott the World Cup until Gianni Infantino is removed from his position, Daily Mail Sport understands.

European football’s governing body today issued a statement reiterating that it had lost confidence in the FIFA president in the wake of his aborted World Cup sell-off.

UEFA previously said that Infantino’s proposal would have to be withdrawn and that it would need assurances that such ‘attempts to disfigure the game this way will never be made again’ before it lifted its self-imposed ban.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: soccer
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1 posted on 08/06/2026 8:03:37 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Huge amount of money at stake. Whoever controls FIFA owns a personal goldmine. Swiss laundrymen bankers already have numbered accounts ready for the winners.


2 posted on 08/06/2026 8:09:12 AM PDT by allendale
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To: MinorityRepublican

They way I read this European hissy fit is a flagrantly corrupt referee made an obviously fake and biased call, he got overruled and Europe was embarrassed and now furious this was called out.

They are using the idea of outside investors as a foil for cover, saying there is moral crisis to justify removing the guy, nothing more the petty revenge and anti-American sentiments.


3 posted on 08/06/2026 8:14:07 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: allendale
Huge amount of money at stake. Whoever controls FIFA owns a personal goldmine.

And soon it'll belong to the EU...

4 posted on 08/06/2026 8:17:28 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: Skwor

No. It’s about exactly what’s being said. Infantino secretly negotiated a deal to sell a big chunk of the World Cup to private equity for no good reason and kept it from the board, even though the board would have to approve it. Also the deal had a hard deadline (again, no good reason) of Sep 19th for the signing, and said deal still hadn’t been presented to them by the end of July. So it looks like there’s some poison pill in the deal that he was hoping the board wouldn’t have time to notice. The whole thing stinks.

And keep in mind CONCACAF (which includes America) and AFC (Asia and Australia) are aligned with UEFA on hating this deal.


5 posted on 08/06/2026 8:27:22 AM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Should fire him, just for having the hydration breaks.


6 posted on 08/06/2026 8:28:43 AM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: discostu

And the Saudis or Dubai would have been the ones buying that equity.

No thanks.


7 posted on 08/06/2026 8:29:31 AM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: discostu

Fair enough, all seemed a bit muddled to me.


8 posted on 08/06/2026 8:31:26 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: Skwor

It is muddled. Because Infantino made it muddled.


9 posted on 08/06/2026 8:34:48 AM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: MinorityRepublican

There might be a problem getting rid of him without losing a major lawsuit he can file. He has never been criminally convicted of an illegal act. And he has been in court a few times. I don’t know how much money he would have got by doing an illegal act, but the payoff to get rid of him is going to cost them a skitpot...probably more.

wy69


10 posted on 08/06/2026 9:45:58 AM PDT by whitney69
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To: discostu
AFC, CAF (Africa), OFC (Oceania) CONMEBOL (South America) are not for removing Infantino.
UEFA is not as all powerful as they think.
11 posted on 08/06/2026 2:00:50 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: SmokingJoe

Unless you take Europe out of the World Cup, then it becomes pointless.

One of the problems here is rich vs poor country. This is one of the things that kept Sepp Blatter in power. There’s the old joke about “I’ve never been rich enough to believe property was a crime”. It’s really easy for Europe, America, Canada, and the big Asian countries to say that $86 million is dirty money from a bad deal and they’re out. It’s a lot harder for Congo, Cape Verde or Haiti. Dirty money, clean money, they just need money.

And Infantino, just like his former boss, knows this and uses it against them. The fact of the matter is BEFORE the World Cup FIFA was sitting on $2.7 billion. They don’t need the money this deal would supposedly bring, and HAVE the money to distribute the projected payout of this deal to the poor countries already. But they don’t distribute that money because the PROMISE of money keeps the votes coming in when Infantino comes for re-election in March. Blatter did the same thing, “ignore all the money I’m shoving in my pockets, and just hoarding in FIFA’s accounts, look at the money I’m handing you”. Everybody knew he was corrupt, everybody knew he wasn’t distributing the money well, or fairly, or in a way that was best for the sport. But he was distributing it in a way that a got a lot of little countries to vote to keep him.


12 posted on 08/06/2026 2:19:21 PM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: discostu
“Unless you take Europe out of the World Cup, then it becomes pointless.”

Nonsense!
South America 10 WC won.
Europe 13 WC won.

Its not much of a difference.
Brazil has won more WC’s than any other country.

Money?
So tell us... what continent is China with their mighty economy on?
Answer : Asia not Europe.

Same with Japan, South Korea etc.
Europe cannot dictate to anybody.

13 posted on 08/06/2026 2:33:51 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: SmokingJoe

And if Europe doesn’t show up South America will win. Without facing European competition. Not much of a World Cup.

Cute how you studiously ignore all the poor countries in Asia. Pakistan, India, Bangladesh. A lot more than rich countries. And keep in mind even some of the countries we think of as rich, have no real success in world soccer. China has only qualified for the Cup once. They LOVE to have Europe sit out.

The facts are the facts. And the fact is bribing the poor countries has kept corrupt in charge of FIFA for 30 years. It’s a tried and true method.


14 posted on 08/06/2026 2:49:03 PM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: discostu
China GDP plus Japan GDP is bigger than EU GDP, so I left out the rest of the Asian countries.
China by itself will soon overtake EU GDP.

Without Europe South America will win?
Is that why Egypt nearly beat finalist Argentina at the World Cup at the quarter finals after leading 2-0?

Again Europe cannot dictate to anybody.
If other continents don't want him to go he stays.

15 posted on 08/06/2026 3:04:32 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: SmokingJoe

Oh look you left out all the poor countries I talked about.

Again, Infantino is a corrupt POS. The deal was bad, and unnecessary. I don’t know why you’re so intent on slurping that guy. But that’s a you problem.


16 posted on 08/07/2026 7:07:09 AM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: discostu
Again the huge economy's China and Japan GDP'S with combined GDP'S bigger than Europe take care of the money problem, not to mention a very strong South Korean economy, plus India's economy which is currently close to same size as the German economy.
That takes care of your “money” argument.

And again Asian countries are not going to take orders from arrogant, imperialist European countries on who to vote for as president of FIFA. Those days are long gone.

17 posted on 08/07/2026 8:14:24 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: SmokingJoe

You ignored Pakistan, and Bangladesh. And a bunch of others I didn’t mention.

There are 211 members nations in FIFA. Of them maybe 50 the soccer organization (not just the GPD mind you, but the actual national team and youth organizations that feed the national team) have enough cash to look at $20 million up front and $66 million over the next 10 years and say “nah, that’s dirty money”. The other 161 look at it as a multiple of their existing budget and really just can’t afford to be picky.

Like Don Ohlmeyer said “the answer to all your questions is money”. And anyone who says that’s not true is making #$^& up. Europe hasn’t been able to dictate the president of FIFA for a long long time. To FIFA’s detriment. That’s how they keep getting bribe oriented scumbags like Blatter and Infantino. You really should watch any of the documentaries about Blatter. Spreading a little bit of cash to national teams, and little bit more to the pockets of representatives is how it all works. It’s all about the Benjamins.


18 posted on 08/07/2026 8:25:52 AM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: discostu

“You ignored Pakistan, and Bangladesh. And a bunch of others I didn’t mention.”

Why would FIFA in Asia need a lot of money from poorer Bangladesh and Pakistan when they already made bank from China Japan South Korea?
Not to mention Indonesia Philippines etc?


19 posted on 08/07/2026 8:39:09 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: SmokingJoe

I told you multiple times the money goes TOO the poor countries, as a bribe, for keeping corrupt people in power. So your question is just you being obstinate. And lying. So we’re done. Don’t need liars in my life.


20 posted on 08/07/2026 8:41:35 AM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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