The dispute between Aleksander Ceferin and Gianni Infantino has once again heightened tensions at the top of world football. The UEFA president described the failed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) program as “even worse than the Super League” after the project to sell stakes linked to the World Cup was shelved in early August amid opposition from various confederations and federations. For Ceferin, the conflict is not limited to a disagreement over the commercial model of a competition, but raises a debate over who should control the assets and decisions affecting international football.
The European position against Infantino has hardened as the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March approaches. UEFA has the backing of Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation in its opposition to FFE and has even kept open the possibility of boycotting FIFA competitions, while negotiating with Concacaf to establish a joint Nations League. Meanwhile, Ceferin maintains that if Infantino decides to run again, he will face an opposing candidate, although no candidacy has yet been confirmed and the UEFA president himself has ruled out competing for the position.
Ceferin compares Infantino’s project with the Super League
The comparison with the 2021 Super League reflects the scale Ceferin attributes to the project promoted by FIFA. Unlike that attempt, which involved some of Europe’s leading clubs seeking to create a competition outside traditional structures, the UEFA president considers FFE an even greater risk because it involved turning football-related assets into stakes that could be commercially sold. “Football would literally be sold,” Ceferin said when explaining why he believes the two episodes represent different threats to the sport’s current model.
The FFE program was ultimately shelved in early August after facing widespread opposition within international football. Ceferin said the plan is “dead” and presented its rejection as a way of preventing another attempt to transform the ownership and management of the sport. The controversy, however, did not end with the closure of the program. During August, reports also emerged that Infantino had explored the possibility of promoting a Super League under the FIFA brand, a prospect Ceferin considers unlikely in the short term, although he acknowledges it could be revisited much further down the line.
The FIFA election opens a new political front
The confrontation also directly affects Infantino’s future at the helm of FIFA. Ceferin said that the organization’s president has not contacted him since the FFE controversy began and outlined two possible scenarios: Infantino could recognize that he has lost support within the football community, or he could decide to run in the March election and face another candidate. The UEFA president did not identify who could challenge him, although Victor Montagliani, president of Concacaf, has emerged as one possible alternative.
The opposition is not limited to UEFA. The six Nordic football federations said they had lost confidence in Infantino and called for guarantees that FIFA would never again open its competitions or governance structure to private ownership. They also requested an independent review of the FFE program after the Norwegian Football Federation became the first member association to directly call for the FIFA president’s resignation. Ceferin, for his part, has ruled out running as a candidate and intends to remain at the helm of UEFA, where he is expected to seek a fourth term unopposed.
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