Ceferin warns against FIFA private investment plan at EFC assembly
Aleksander Ceferin has stepped up his opposition to Gianni Infantino after FIFA’s proposed sale of an interest in its competitions triggered a widening dispute across the international game. Speaking to leading clubs at the European Football Clubs assembly in Copenhagen, the UEFA president said football’s future must not be handed to private investors.
Dispute over FIFA competition investment
- The relationship between UEFA and FIFA deteriorated sharply last month after plans emerged to sell a stake in FIFA-owned tournaments, with the World Cup among the competitions under discussion.
- UEFA, supported by confederations representing Asia and North America, has called for a change in FIFA’s leadership. African and South American football authorities have instead aligned themselves with Infantino.
- UEFA has since begun legal proceedings against FIFA, Infantino and the prospective investors. FIFA has responded by accusing UEFA of conducting a continuing campaign to damage its president.
Ceferin used the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes in Copenhagen to challenge FIFA’s language around the proposed transaction. He argued that terms such as development, democratisation and consultation had been used to describe actions that amounted to their reverse.
“Calling a sale of football’s future ‘development’ does not make it development,” Ceferin said. “Presenting national associations with a completed decision is not democratisation, regardless of the size of the payment. And secrecy is not consultation simply because it is given that name.”
Ceferin attacks governance and Peace Prize decision
The UEFA president also criticised Infantino over FIFA’s Peace Prize, which was awarded to Donald Trump last year. Ceferin said the prize had been introduced without consultation with FIFA’s board.
He further referred to an incident during the world’s biggest competition in which a political leader called to challenge an on-field decision. Ceferin said the rules had initially pointed one way before the call led to the outcome being altered, asking club executives how often such an intervention would be tolerated before a board acted.
“The moment has come to say that enough is enough,” Ceferin said. “The game does not need emperors or courtiers. Administrators are temporary custodians, not its proprietors. Football cannot be sold — now or in the future.”
Morocco election approaching
Despite the growing opposition, Infantino is seeking a fourth four-year spell as FIFA president. The election is scheduled for FIFA’s congress in Morocco next March.
Infantino currently has no declared challenger for the presidency. UEFA and the confederations supporting its position are searching for a candidate capable of contesting the vote.
