In a dramatic turn of events, Uefa has announced that it will press on with its attempt to remove Gianni Infantino as Fifa president despite withdrawing the threat to boycott competitions. The move comes after Uefa received assurances from Fifa that the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan will not be revived, which was one of the main demands made by the European governing body in exchange for calling off the boycott.
The 55 member associations, plus Europe's members on the Fifa Council, were presented with a letter guaranteeing that the FFE plan would not be revived. The official removal of the boycott will be confirmed at Uefa's executive committee meeting in Monaco, which is expected to take place soon.
This development comes as a major relief to the six European Women's Under-20 teams whose players had been in limbo over recent weeks, and who would have been worried that they could become the first casualties of world football's continuing civil war. However, many will also see this as a victory for Gianni Infantino, who now looks increasingly likely to remain in power until at least next year's presidential election.
Despite the lifting of the boycott threat, Uefa is confident that a unity candidate can be found to challenge Infantino in next year's presidential election. The vote is expected to be close, with 106 out of 211 member associations needed to elect a new president. However, Uefa has abandoned the idea of trying to force a vote of no confidence, which would have required three quarters of the member associations (159 votes) to pass.
No candidate has been identified yet, but Concacaf president Victor Montagliani is considered a serious option. 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.
