Max Eberl Criticizes FIFA's Profit Motive Amid UEFA Boycott Talks
Max Eberl didn’t bother with diplomacy.
Speaking on Wednesday, the Bayern Munich sporting director tore into FIFA’s latest investment push and the direction he believes the global body is dragging the game.
"I am ashamed that we even discuss such ideas in football. Football does not belong to us," the 52-year-old said, as quoted by Sky Sport. "I have the feeling that FIFA exists solely to make a profit. It disgusts me."
Those are not the words of a fringe voice. Eberl sits at the heart of one of Europe’s most powerful clubs, and his anger reflects a wider mood hardening across the continent.
European patience snaps
Tension between FIFA and European federations has been simmering for years. Now it is close to boiling over.
Reports of a potential World Cup boycott by UEFA nations are no longer whispered away as fantasy. They are being discussed, seriously, in corridors of power. Eberl made it clear where he stands if Europe chooses confrontation over compromise.
"Then I would indeed be in favor of us as Europe taking a firm stand and saying: No, we won't participate," he declared.
That is the nuclear option: Europe refusing to play on FIFA’s stage. The fact a figure of Eberl’s stature is prepared to say it out loud underlines how deep the distrust has become around Gianni Infantino’s investment model and the broader commercialisation drive.
For Bayern’s hierarchy, the calculation is stark. No payout, however lucrative, can compensate for what they see as an erosion of the sport’s identity.
Sammer warns of a dangerous line
Not everyone in Germany’s football elite chose Eberl’s explosive tone, but the concern is just as sharp.
Matthias Sammer, the former Ballon d’Or winner and current Borussia Dortmund advisor, tried to capture the complexity of Infantino’s role while still sounding the alarm.
"Gianni Infantino first has to manage to please everyone. That's his job and FIFA's. It's always a fine line," Sammer said.
He recognises the modern reality: global football is a political and financial maze, and the FIFA president sits at the centre of it. Yet even Sammer, long accustomed to the sport’s power games, sees something more fragile at stake.
He warned that the "emotional credibility" of football is being gambled with in pursuit of bigger returns for the organisation. The core of his fear is simple and blunt. There is, he said, a "danger when the integrity of the game is interfered with."
Strip away the boardroom language and that is the heart of the European revolt. Many inside the game believe FIFA is pushing too far, too fast, turning the world’s most popular sport into a vehicle for financial engineering.
A ticking clock from Zurich
Infantino is not stepping back.
Despite the backlash, FIFA has set a firm deadline. Member associations have been given until September to sign off on the deal. The carrot is obvious: a potential windfall worth millions to each federation at a time when many national bodies are desperate for fresh revenue.
For some regions, that kind of money can transform infrastructure, youth development, even basic facilities. For many in Europe, it comes with a price they are no longer willing to pay.
Scepticism runs deep. The fear is not just about this deal, but about where it leads: more matches, more tournaments, more strain on players, and a slow, relentless shift in who really controls football’s future.
At clubs like Bayern Munich, the message is clear. Financial temptation will not drown out questions about who the game is for, and what is being sacrificed to keep FIFA’s balance sheet growing.
All eyes now turn to the upcoming UEFA meetings. There, away from cameras but under enormous pressure, Europe’s federations must decide: accept FIFA’s offer and stay on board, or take the first step towards a historic split that would redraw the map of world football.
