A pointed jab in Copenhagen
Aleksander Ceferin didn’t need to name Gianni Infantino for the message to land. On Tuesday, at the European Club Association (ECA) general assembly in Copenhagen, the UEFA president said: “Football doesn’t need emperors.” The line was a direct shot at the FIFA president, coming after the collapse of his plan to open up the governing body to private investors.
Ceferin has never hidden his reservations about that project, which had already stirred tension between FIFA and several European federations in recent months. The plan, driven by Infantino, aimed to bring private capital into the governance of world football. It was eventually shelved amid growing pushback.
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“We are its custodians, not its owners”
Speaking to club executives gathered in Denmark, the Slovenian official laid out his position bluntly. “Yes, let’s grow, let’s innovate, let’s make our clubs and competitions even better, but let’s never forget that football is bigger than those who run it. We are its custodians, not its owners. No one has the right to sell away its future,” he said.
The remark fits a pattern of recurring friction between the two men. Ceferin has already publicly ruled himself out of ever running for the FIFA presidency, but keeps positioning himself as Europe’s counterweight to the direction Infantino has taken the global governing body.
A climate of mistrust that won’t go away
This latest episode adds to a long list of frictions between FIFA and parts of European football. Several federations, including Italy, Belgium and Denmark, have already withdrawn their support for Infantino in recent months. The now-abandoned private investment plan will likely remain one of the most contested chapters of the Swiss-Italian official’s tenure.
The ECA general assembly, which brings together the continent’s leading clubs, remains a closely watched event for FIFA itself, given how much the positions taken there weigh on the balance of power in world football.
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