"BEGINNING OF THE END!" Ben Jacobs EXPLAINS how UEFA's World Cup BOYCOTT could END Infantino's Reign

All right, let's return, though, to today's huge breaking news that England and the other European members of UEFA will boycott FIFA's tournaments if Gianni Infantino goes ahead with his plans to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.The decision comes after a virtual crisis meeting this afternoon.Let's get more as we're joined now by TalkSport's Ben Jacobs.Ben, look, me and Rory, I say me and Rory like we kickstarted this, but we were calling for England FA to boycott and stand up and be counted.They have done so they've done so very quickly as well.Are you surprised that I've actually done it?

Not so much surprised, but the statement is firm and clear that all UEFA member confederations, including the FA, that's 55 and some big players.Remember, you had France and Argentina and Spain, three out of four in the semifinals at the World Cup.And the determination after an emergency meeting that started at 2 p .m.today is a collective boycott, starting today.instantly and extending also to qualifiers as well.

This leaves FIFA and Gianni Infantino in a really precarious position.The reason why the decision has been made is because this is a power play to try and stop any vote over Gianni Infantino's FIFA Forward Enterprise plans.Infantino's decision tactically was to rush that vote quickly, by the 19th of September and promised the member confederations up to 40 million US dollars just for joining in the hope that money would talk.UEFA's response ensures that now Gianni Infantino has to pitch these same plans without UEFA support, which alters the finances, it alters the appeal to private equity, and it may mean that others outside of UEFA start to waver as well.And UEFA's clear intent here in a very firm statementis to stop these plans going to a vote, make Gianni Infantino's position untenable.

And UEFA sources have told me in the last half an hour, if these plans don't come off, and are quickly derailed as per the European Super League, the feeling within UEFA is this will be seen as a vote of no confidence to Gianni Infantino that may call into question whether or not, even unopposed at the moment, he is the right person to stand at the next FIFA election in March 2027.

Ben, you mentioned it there, qualification.What does this mean for qualification.In fact, what does it mean for the qualifying games for the 2027 Women's World Cup?

Well, it means that if UEFA follow through, that football is in chaos, that the World Cup cannot continue because it has to adapt and exclude UEFA, which will not go down well with stakeholders and will likely not occur.And all manner of logistical and legal coordination would be required.But remember one thing, this is a power play.The boycott is there and UEFA's intent is to follow through if they need to but the end game here is to derail these plans as quickly as they were announced in the same cloak and dagger way as the Super League and if UEFA succeed they won't need a boycott because Gianni Infantino will have to backtrack and then, as I say, his position may become untenable.And this is what fascinates me, because Nasser Al Khalifi came forward during the Super League and very much became the saviour of European football, and yet he doesn't want to stand head -to -head against Infantino, nor does Alexander Shefferan or other viable candidates.But UEFA's position is stop the vote, stop the project.

If Gianni Infantino can't get this through or even bring it to the point of a vote, then it remains to be seenwhether he will still be backed come the next FIFA election, where he's currently the only candidate.And I can foresee a situation where not only do these plans not proceed, because you need Europe, but also where Gianni Infantino's very future as FIFA president starts to be called into question.And were he, for example, to stand down, then some of these candidates like Nasser Al -Khalife would be prepared, according to my information, to be FIFA president.They just don't want to go head to head with Gianni Infantino.So this could be the beginning of the end of not just Infantino's plans, but Infantino himself.

So this almost goes back to the conversation that we were having earlier with some of our callers about the power that Infantino now has.And me and Mario have spoken about that power already.He seems to be almost even bigger than a FIFA president.Why is there this fear to go head -to -head with Infantino for that seat?

Simply put, because it doesn't matter how big any European federations are or how much money they contribute or how vital they are to FIFA tournaments.Right now, we've just finished a World Cup.So the next step would be the vote, not a World Cup or even a qualifier.And if the vote comes first, everybody knows that money can still talk.And UEFA only has 55 members.So Infantino's tactic in all of this is to say, I might call UEFA's bluff.

I'm going to proceed with the vote.The vote would likely pass, regardless of the size of a member association.It's one vote, one member association.England and Cape Verde, for example, have exactly the same vote.So Gianni Infantino now has to decide, is he going to call UEFA's bluff and proceed with this vote, or is he going to cancel the plans?If he cancels it, It's like the Super League at a FIFA level, and Gianni Infantino could be left in an untenable position.

If he goes ahead with the vote, and this is where, to answer your question, Nasser Al -Khaliq...and others have reservations, ironically Infantino will still believe that he can get the majority to pass it, even with UEFA threatening to boycott.And if it passes, do UEFA follow through on this threat?to boycott.So the challenge for some names is if they get to the point of going up against Infantino, they'd be standing on a moral ground, but they might still lose.And that's why instead of starting with a candidate to rival Infantino in March, UEFA want to do something to stop this vote now, and maybe even make a power play to force Infantino out of FIFA before he gets the opportunity to even stand again.

You mentioned the Super League there, and I find that very interesting, just because when the Super League collapsed, it did collapse to an extent, but there were still some big European football powerhouses that still had hope and desire for it to continue, and almost still said we can go ahead with this.Is it?Is it unequivocally that all the European members have decided we are not aware against this?I mean, are there any European members that are still for this?

Yeah, we had the Czech Republic, the head of their FA come out and say that he backed the plans, and yet the subsequent meeting has had all 55 unanimously agree to reject them.So it's either a personal opinion from Czech Republic's Federation chief that he's actually in favor, or he's changed his mind after reading the plans and seeing the backlash.But this is a collective approach.Every single UEFA member association is prepared to boycott the men's and women's World Cups in protest Gianni Infantino's plans.So Infantino now has to campaign and change their mind, proceed with a vote that he still may win with support from Africa and to an extent Asia.But people are breaking ranks in Asia and Africa and starting to wonder if this has been in the offing for quite some time, why are the federations blindsided?

A lot of people also lookingthe 20 % of this new subsidiary that's open to private investment and wonder why the valuation is only, in terms of the capital that FIFA are trying to raise, $4 .2 million.billion because that amount versus what FIFA earn leans towards a very preferable and beneficial deal to those investing in order to line their own pockets, whereas Infantino's perspective is FIFA is not for profit and the money trickles down to the member associations, but on paper there appears a huge benefit to private capital and no transparency as to why or where that valuation has come from.So this is fascinating because Infantino has got a huge decision to make.He's been cornered by UEFA.Now he needs to decide whether he backs the numbers to pass a vote by one and then hopes UEFA back down.

If they don't, then We don't have European teams in a World Cup, and we might have the likes of Nasser Al Khalifi or Alexander Sheffrin changing their mind and going head to head against Infantino at the next election.So when you add it all up, it's complicated.Both sides have tried power plays.There's echoes of the Super League.And now all we can really say is that football is divided and in chaos.

Ben, I know this is a very difficult question for you to answer, but what do you believe happens next?Do you think that we're going to hear a response response from FIFA.

FIFA, which is another step in this narrative if there's not a resolution.So UEFA's clear tacticis to stop Gianni Infantino tabling a vote because if it gets to a vote it Infantino might still likely win, and then suddenly UEFA are left in a position of following through, of finding another candidate to rival Gianni Infantino in March, and it gets even messier.The simplest solution, which is why it's a smart and aggressive play from UEFA, is to say right now, we're not part of this, which means your valuations can't be the same, your appeal to investors can't be the same, because the thing you're selling is contingent on big players from UEFA.If UEFA remove themselves from from this project, then maybe the private investors get nervous and back off.Maybe other federations decide, wait a minute, there's no point in being part of an expanded World Cup and earning huge amounts of money if the likes of England aren't in it because there'll be less money, less appeal to stakeholders.

And how do you even get a 64 -team World Cup or even a 32 -team World Cup if the European member federations don't want to be a part of it?So what UEFA have done is actually removed a lot of the components of this lucrative plan bluff.And if he calls the bluff, then it becomes very chaotic.

Ben Jacobs, appreciate you.Thank you very much.Talksport Ben Jacobs, who's been all over this since the very beginning of this news, which kind of broke about three or four days ago.It's interesting.You mentioned calling the bluff that mean you like a bit of poker and I almost feel like there's a lot of bluffs being called.And it's gonna be interesting if he does call the bluff of UEFA.

and goes to the vote, and he probably will get the vote he requires.He'll probably be speaking to some of these smaller nations and offering them the windfall, and he'll probably get the vote of those, by the way.

And remember, it's only one vote per, Curacao's gonna get the same vote as Spain.But the World Cup doesn't exist without the European nations, does it?

Yeah, and I think UEFA are almost hoping that this collapses rather than their bluff being called about what goes ahead without us almost.Yeah.Yeah.And that's a problem for the nation's a problem for players.We forget the players that want to play in the World Cup.All right.

And the last few moments, by the way, we've heard from the FA in a very short statement.It reads, We stand shoulder to shoulder with our European colleagues and fully support the collective view.We oppose FIFA's plans.The FIFA World Cup belongs to football and always will.