Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin (left) has been firmly against many changes driven by Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino (right). This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
The bombshell statement landed at 16:00 BST on Thursday, 30 July. In terms of impact, European football's governing body Uefa could not have gone any bigger.
"Uefa and its national associations will not participate in Fifa competitions," it said. Eleven brutal words. The definitive reaction to Fifa president Gianni Infantino's plan to sell a 20% stake in a subsidiary company set up to run the world governing body's competitions, including the World Cup. A company it is intended Fifa will run but that will be part-funded by private investors, including the brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Joshua Kushner.
It feels as though no-one who matters knows how this situation is going to play out just yet. "Not sure the detail was considered when deciding the overall policy," was the response from a senior European football source when asked what this decision means for the U20 Women's World Cup, starting on 5 September, being hosted by Poland and featuring plenty of European nations.
Uefa's boycott threat will be activated if Infantino's funding deal is accepted. Given 19 September is the deadline for countries to accept Fifa's deal and bank $20m (£15m) on 1 January, in theory, countries could be pulling out of that tournament in the middle of the quarter-finals and before the semis.
After that, the next senior matches in a Fifa competition are the Women's World Cup play-offs in October, which feature England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland among others.
"Wales is involved in the play-offs for the Women's World Cup in the autumn, and it would be our first qualification for a World Cup," Uefa vice-president and ex-Wales international Laura McAllister told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Nobody can even countenance the thought of not being involved in those. But let's be clear here. This is not a problem of Uefa's making. It's a problem that Fifa have created. Nobody wants the players to suffer, and nobody wants nations to suffer when it comes to the most prestigious competitions. We've been pushed into this corner and that's Fifa's responsibility."
Fifa, meanwhile, has released a new statement claiming consultation over the proposals "was disrupted by incorrect media reports". It added: "We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation... Nobody is selling football. This is not something Fifa would ever entertain."
Infantino became Fifa president in 2016 when he beat Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa by 115 votes to 88. The Swiss is due to stand for a fourth term in March.