The institutional war between UEFA and FIFA added a new chapter this Tuesday. Aleksander Ceferin, president of the governing body of European football, launched harsh criticism against Gianni Infantino during the General Assembly of the European Club Association (EFC), held in Copenhagen.
Without directly mentioning the president of FIFA, Ceferin questioned his failed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, an initiative that contemplated the creation of a commercial subsidiary in charge of managing the rights to major competitions, including the World Cup and the Club World Cup, with the possibility of incorporating private capital.
“We are custodians, not owners. Nobody has the right to sell the future of football,” Ceferin said before the representatives of the main European clubs.
The Slovenian leader also resorted to Hans Christian Andersen’s famous story, The Emperor’s New Clothes, to refer to the situation. “The emperor is naked,” he said, before demanding that football leaders put limits on certain initiatives.
“I think it’s time to say enough is enough. Football does not need emperors,” added Ceferin, who also defended that the economic growth of sport should not be above its governance structures and principles.
The FFE project had provoked strong opposition within European football. UEFA even threatened a possible boycott of competitions organized by FIFA before suspending that position after receiving written guarantees that the plan would not be reactivated.
The European organization has also requested documents related to the initiative before United States courts, with the aim of analyzing the circumstances surrounding the project. FIFA, for its part, has accused UEFA of developing a “disinformation campaign” and of trying to influence the electoral process for the FIFA presidency scheduled for 2027.
The tension occurs while Infantino seeks to continue leading the world body. Several European leaders and associations have withdrawn their support for the Swiss, although the electoral process is still in development.
During the EFC Assembly, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain and the organization that brings together European clubs, also called for greater transparency and dialogue between the institutions.
“Football does well when we listen to each other and are transparent,” said the Qatari leader, who also publicly supported a new candidacy by Ceferin for the UEFA presidency.
The confrontation between both organizations thus leaves international football facing a new dispute over the management and commercial exploitation model of its main competitions, while a FIFA election approaches that could set the course of the relationship between Europe and the highest world organization.
