Everyone Against FIFA's Plan

How the UEFA Boss Sparked the Revolt Against Infantino

FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Ceferin(Bild: Krone-Collage/EPA/BOB FRID, AFP/PREDRAG MILOSAVLJEVIC)

Aleksander Ceferin has delivered his masterpiece as UEFA boss virtually at the end of his ten-year term, which concludes in 2027—and the official would probably have preferred to do without it. Within 48 hours, Ceferin—a lawyer from Slovenia—organized united resistance across Europe against the multibillion-dollar World Cup investment plan with which Gianni Infantino and FIFA stunned the soccer world this week.

Ceferin’s UEFA torpedoed FIFA’s business practices in three acts. Act one: outrage. “This crosses a line that the institutions responsible for soccer should never cross.” Act two: derision. “That says everything you need to know about this plan,” was the response to the September 19 ultimatum. Part three was the open break with FIFA and an explosion in sports politics. Ceferin rallied all 55 member associations—including the Czechs, who had initially been dissenting—behind him and is threatening FIFA with a boycott of all FIFA competitions.

(Bild: AP/Christophe Ena)

As with Part One (Outrage) and Part Two (Mockery), Ceferin is not quoted in the official UEFA statement following Thursday’s emergency meeting; he is not even mentioned by name in the communiqué. Yet the 58-year-old is once again the one leading the resistance. This was also the case with Infantino’s failed billion-dollar plans in 2018 and the Super League—conceived and prepared by top clubs—which Ceferin and his UEFA spectacularly derailed in 2021.

The Antithesis of Infantino
In many respects, Ceferin is the polar opposite of Infantino. For instance, he doesn’t maintain his own social media channels. Instead, with his open threat to FIFA, he could ensure that not only does the investor-led project—promising more money for everyone, more influence for the U.S., and a permanent leadership role for Infantino—fall apart. But also that his arch-rival Infantino stumbles over his own plan—and has to say goodbye to the seat of power much sooner than expected.

(Bild: AFP/FABRICE COFFRINI)

  For Ceferin—a trained lawyer and former competitive karateka—and his UEFA have not only slammed the door on investors at FIFA, but have virtually barricaded it shut. The fact that all 55 European nations are demanding “binding commitments” within this short timeframe—that FIFA’s leadership must “never again open its doors to private owners”—is an unprecedented display of unity. And it was orchestrated by Ceferin. The fact that the federations of North/Central America/the Caribbean and Asia followed suit was certainly also due to Ceferin and UEFA taking the lead.

A Signal in the Wake of a Scandal
Ceferin has been at odds with Infantino for quite some time. At the World Cup final just under two weeks ago in East Rutherford, near New York, Ceferin was not in the stadium, even though a UEFA representative was there for the match between Spain and Argentina. The European federation chief’s absence could certainly be interpreted as a signal in the wake of the scandal surrounding Folarin Balogun. The U.S. forward had his red-card suspension for the Round of 16 lifted after U.S. President Donald Trump called Infantino. Even then, UEFA had stated that “a red line had been crossed.”