UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has ruled out challenging Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency but delivered his strongest warning yet to the world football chief, saying Infantino must either step down or face a challenger at next year’s election.Infantino has come under mounting pressure following his now-abandoned proposal to sell a stake in the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions to private equity investors. The plan triggered fierce opposition from UEFA and other continental confederations, with European football’s governing body even threatening a boycott of FIFA competitions.Ceferin, widely regarded as a potential challenger to Infantino, said he had no intention of pursuing the top FIFA job. However, he believes Infantino could face an opponent when the election is held in March.“One option is that he realises that he doesn’t have the support, and that’s not only a political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches,” Ceferin said in an interview with the British podcast “The Rest is Politics: Leading”.“And the second option is that he goes to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don’t know yet who.”
Ceferin rejects FIFA presidency bid
Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 and had appeared on course for another unopposed election before the backlash over the proposed investment deal. FIFA has set November 18 as the deadline for potential challengers to nominate.Ceferin, however, insisted he remains committed to UEFA and does not want to replace Infantino.“I’m not interested because of two reasons. One reason is that I love UEFA and I love working here, and I think that at a certain point … it’s time to also enjoy life a bit,” Ceferin said.“And the second point is, my credibility is much, much higher if I’m not interested in the position.”The 58-year-old Slovenian has emerged as one of Infantino’s most vocal critics following the controversy over the proposed creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise, a company that would have managed the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, with a 21% stake earmarked for sale to a private investment company.
‘Worse than the Super League ’
Ceferin described the proposal as more damaging than the failed European Super League project and insisted UEFA would not allow football’s commercial rights to be sold off.“I think this plan is even worse than the Super League plan,” Ceferin said.“Super important clubs wanted to do their own league, which is wrong, and would destroy football. But in this case, football would be literally sold.“I’m absolutely sure that the plan is dead. It’s hard to to imagine what kind of people would sell the sport that belongs to everyone. We will not allow that to happen.”Ceferin also accused FIFA of failing to consult UEFA before unveiling the plan, saying he discovered it through media reports while on holiday with his family.“He didn’t contact me since this happened,” Ceferin said.The UEFA president also took aim at Infantino’s European roots, arguing that the FIFA president should remember the support he received from UEFA during his rise to the top of world football.“But I think someone should remind him that he is a European, and that he was supported by Uefa, which he forgot,” Ceferin said.
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