Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has officially ruled out his participation in the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 2027. However, he expressed confidence that current FIFA head Gianni Infantino will certainly encounter a formidable competitor.
Infantino is under intense scrutiny and calls for resignation following his decision to scrap the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative. This plan intended to transfer commercial and ticket rights for all FIFA tournaments to a new entity, which would subsequently sell 21% of its shares to a private investment firm. Uefa spearheaded the outcry against this idea, signalling a loss of trust in Infantino, with member associations even voting to boycott World Cups should the deal proceed.
In a recent episode of the podcast The Rest is Politics, Ceferin explained his choice to step back from the race for global football’s leadership:
I am not interested in this position for two reasons. Firstly, I love Uefa and enjoy working here; I think there comes a time to savour life a bit. Secondly, my authority and trust are significantly higher when I am not vying for this position.
Ceferin believes Infantino faces two potential scenarios leading up to the March Congress:
One possibility is he realises he lacks support. This isn’t merely about political backing from voting delegates but extends to the entire football community — fans, players, former footballers, and coaches. The other option is he decides to run in March; in that case, I believe another candidate will emerge against him. I don't yet know who that might be.
A number of football associations have already publicly withdrawn support for Infantino. In a joint open letter, Uefa, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation accused him of undermining trust through deceit. All football associations from the UK, including Scotland, have distanced themselves from him, though he still enjoys backing from the South American Conmebol and the African Caf. Amid this turmoil, the 56-year-old Swiss, who has served Uefa for 16 years, has been making overseas trips, including a meeting with members of the Caribbean Football Union in the Dominican Republic and attending the eSports World Championship final in Paris alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ceferin revealed that he learned about Infantino's secret plans to sell FIFA tournaments through the press during a family holiday, dismissing the initiative as deeply flawed:
They speculate on the premise of arrogant Europe being against us, claiming Europeans have plenty of money while I support the small and poor. But someone should remind him that he’s European too and that Uefa was the one who supported him at a time he seems to have forgotten. I believe this project is even worse than the Super League. Back then, the top clubs wanted to create their own tournament, which was a mistake that could have destroyed football. In this case, however, sport would have literally been sold off. I am absolutely confident that this plan is dead. It’s hard to imagine who would dare to sell a sport that belongs to everyone. We will not allow it to happen.
Besides the failed commercial project, Infantino has also faced severe criticism for his interactions with former US President Donald Trump. A scandal erupted when US forward Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension was lifted ahead of a World Cup Round of 16 match against Belgium. Trump openly admitted to calling Infantino to request the lifted ban, later stating that removing the FIFA president would be a terrible mistake.
Ceferin expressed his outrage over such interference in sporting regulations:
This was more than shocking. We have clear rules, and if you don't respect your own rules, the game loses all meaning. The president of a country openly says: 'I called him and told him to sort this out.' Then the FIFA president claims it was an independent decision. For us, as football fans or as an overseeing body, this is a real shock. Believe me, everyone was shocked, it’s just that not everyone had the courage to say it openly.
