According to British media reports, UEFA is expected to drop its threat to boycott FIFA-organised competitions after FIFA gave assurances that it would not revive plans to sell World Cup-related rights to private investors. This means next month’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is expected to go ahead as planned.

FIFA welcomed the development, saying it was “pleased that all qualified teams will take part in the upcoming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup”. The issue is expected to be formally discussed at UEFA’s Executive Committee meeting in Monaco on Thursday local time.

Earlier this month, despite the withdrawal of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s controversial proposal following widespread criticism, UEFA said that the conditions required to avoid a boycott had “not yet been met”.

UEFA stressed at the time: “There must be guarantees that there will never again be an attempt to change the very nature of football in this way.”

Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström had previously informed national and regional football associations that the Fifa Forward Enterprises (FFE) proposal was “no longer being considered” and apologised for the “mistakes” made during the process.

If UEFA formally withdraws its boycott threat, next month’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will go ahead as scheduled. Six European teams — England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and hosts Poland — have already qualified for the tournament.

UEFA has been one of the main forces opposing Infantino’s proposal. Reports suggest that UEFA will also continue working with CONCACAF and the AFC to push for reforms within FIFA’s leadership. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin previously said he expected Infantino either to resign or face another candidate in next March’s FIFA presidential election.

A FIFA spokesperson said the organisation “firmly believes in the power of football to unite people even in difficult times” and added that FIFA would continue working closely with the continental confederations and other stakeholders to advance the development of football worldwide.

However, a source close to the negotiations stressed that UEFA’s decision should not be viewed as a “backdown”. The source said those opposing Infantino “will continue pushing until there is comprehensive reform”.

The source also said: “This is not a failure for UEFA, but a decision based on reality, because young players should not be deprived of what could be a once-in-a-lifetime World Cup opportunity because of this dispute. The push for change and the demands for reform will continue, and ultimately they will achieve results.”

Last month, Europe’s 55 football associations voted to boycott all FIFA competitions unless the FFE proposal was “completely withdrawn” and FIFA provided binding guarantees that it would not open up its governance structure or event ownership to private capital in the future.

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also said earlier this month that she did not support a boycott of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. She argued that sporting boycotts often result in innocent athletes bearing the consequences. Instead, she said she wanted the football community to resolve the dispute and push for changes to its leadership and direction without allowing women footballers to become the victims.

Meanwhile, former players have also been divided over their views on Infantino.

On Tuesday local time, a group of former players issued a statement arguing that “change is necessary” at the top of FIFA. Former Manchester United and France defender Mikaël Silvestre shared a statement on social media titled “Enough is Enough!”, which was also reposted by England international Lucy Bronze, France’s 1998 World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit and former England goalkeeper David James.

However, on Wednesday, another group of former players publicly backed Infantino. They included Brazil’s World Cup-winning captain Cafu, former Italy striker Christian Vieri, former Portugal captain Pepe and former Argentina international Esteban Cambiasso. All of them are officially recognised by FIFA as “FIFA Legends”.

Vieri said in a statement: “Over the past 10 years, we have seen the work carried out by FIFA and President Infantino to increase the representation of players in football governance, something that did not exist before. We are willing to continue supporting the tremendous progress football has made over the past decade and ensure that the sport continues to benefit everyone around the world who loves football.”

The report suggests that UEFA dropping its boycott threat will be a major boost for the European players preparing to compete at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. However, for Infantino personally, it could also be viewed as an important victory in his increasingly intense power struggle with UEFA.

Nevertheless, it remains unclear exactly what specific guarantees UEFA has received. After previously taking a hard line by raising the possibility of a boycott and even legal action, UEFA’s decision to withdraw its threat could leave the organisation facing questions over whether it has ultimately made concessions.