PARIS.- Alexander Ceferinthe president of the powerful European football confederation (UEFA), will not be a candidate for the presidency of the FIFA in the March 2027 elections, the Slovenian leader announced to the British podcast The Rest is Politics.
Ceferin, at the head of UEFA since 2016, is one of the main opponents of the current president of FIFA, Gianni Infantinowhich has seen its position weakened after the failure of its controversial project to open the world body to private investors.
“I am not interested” in the FIFA presidency, declared Ceferin.
“I like UEFA and the work I do in it (…) My credibility (as an opponent of Infantino) is even greater if I am not interested in that position,” he explained.
The 58-year-old Slovenian manager, whose UEFA term ends in 2027, added that he wanted to “enjoy life”, but has so far maintained suspense over whether he intends to run again or not.
Under his leadership, UEFA announced that it would boycott all FIFA competitions – including the World Cups-, a repeated threat even despite the withdrawal of Infantino’s project, which the European entity openly fought from the first moment.
“The first option is for him to realize that he does not have the support (necessary for re-election) (…) The other option is for him to participate in the scrutiny, but in that case I think we will have a candidate against him. I don’t know who yet,” explained Ceferin, who claims not to have spoken with Infantino, former UEFA general secretary, since the beginning of this crisis.
Montagliani, the letter with Infantino?
According to different media, the Canadian Victor Montaglianipresident of the Concacaf (Confederation of North American, Central and Caribbean Football), could be a candidate against Infantino in the 2027 elections.
Along with UEFA, Concacaf is the confederation that has made its opposition to Infantino the most heard, as has the AFC (Asian Confederation).
The three confederations have recently signed a common text to “unite the football family” together with their cause.
In an interview published Sunday on FIFA’s website, Infantino defended his vision of a more globally equal football.
“We want to develop football in each of our 211 member federations around the world. Some, unfortunately, do not need it and do not want others to progress, but we must reduce the differences between the big countries and the others,” declared Infantino, who this weekend coincided with Montagliani at a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in Dominican Republic.
“What I hear is that they (FIFA officials) represent the number of Europe is arrogant against them,” Ceferin told the podcast.
“But I think someone should remind him (Infantino) that he is European (Italian-Swiss) and that he was supported by UEFA,” he stressed.
The elections for the FIFA presidency will take place in March 2027 in Rabat and Infantino, in office since 2016, is for now the only declared candidate for them.
