Poland says Women’s World Cup plan on course despite UEFA boycott of FIFA

What the report says

Poland says preparations for the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup remain on track, even as tension between UEFA and FIFA continues to cloud the global football calendar. The tournament is set to be held in Poland from September 5 to 27, and the host federation said work has moved into the final phase.

The Reuters report published by Al Jazeera said the event is the first FIFA competition to take place after UEFA’s 55 member associations backed a boycott of FIFA events. That dispute followed FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s short-lived proposal to separate and partially sell the World Cup’s commercial rights, a move that deepened friction with European football bodies.

Poland’s football association said it has not been told that any participating team plans to withdraw and expressed hope that the situation will be resolved quickly. New Zealand and France have both separately confirmed they intend to compete, while England, Canada and the United States had not publicly changed their positions at the time of the report. The tournament involves 24 teams.

The broader significance is that women’s football could be among the first areas affected if the FIFA-UEFA dispute escalates further. Al Jazeera noted that other FIFA and regional competitions are also on the schedule in the months ahead, including the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco and 2027 World Cup qualifying matches in Europe.