Ceferin calls Infantino’s World Cup sale plan “even worse than the Super League”
Aleksander Ceferin on 23 August 2026 described Gianni Infantino’s aborted attempt to sell stakes in the World Cup as “even worse than the Super League plan” in an interview on the podcast The Rest is Politics: Leading, and warned the Fifa president that he will face an opponent if he runs for re-election next March.
Ceferin said Uefa led a firm collective stand against the Football Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, which was shelved amid widespread opposition at the start of August. He added that Uefa are pushing for Infantino to quit and have drawn on support from Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation. Uefa have not abandoned a threat to boycott Fifa competitions and are in talks with Concacaf about creating a combined Nations League tournament. The shelving of the FFE plan followed broad resistance from national associations, clubs and other stakeholders.
In the podcast interview Ceferin argued the FFE proposal was more damaging than the proposed Super League, saying: “I think this plan is even worse than the Super League plan.” He expanded: “In the first case, 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.”
Ceferin added: “I’m absolutely sure that the [FFE] plan is dead. For me, the most important thing is that we stopped another try to sell the sport. It’s hard to imagine what kind of people would sell the sport that belongs to everyone.” He also referenced reports that Infantino had discussed running the Super League under Fifa branding.
Responding to suggestions the breakaway concept could return, Ceferin said: “It might happen in 20 years, you never know, but for now we cooperate with everyone in a great way. I’m sure it cannot happen in the next 10 years.” The article reports Infantino spent much of the weekend courting support from Concacaf members at a meeting in the Dominican Republic, a move that reportedly angered many attendees.
Ceferin said he had not spoken to Infantino since the FFE controversy broke and outlined two possible outcomes: “I didn’t speak with him, he didn’t contact me since this happened,” he said. “But there are two options. One option is that he realises that he doesn’t have the support, and that’s not only political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of the football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches. 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.” The Concacaf president, Victor Montagliani, has been tipped as a potential opponent if Infantino runs in Rabat; Ceferin ruled out standing himself, saying: “My credibility is much, much, much higher if I’m not interested in the position.” He is expected to run unopposed for a fourth term as Uefa president at an election due next April.
Asked about Infantino’s reported closeness to Donald Trump, Ceferin said: “To be honest, I think you are naive if you think that a politician like that, or any politician, is your good friend. The moment you are a problem, you stop being a friend of a politician.” He also criticised a call by Trump related to the red card shown to the US striker Folarin Balogun, saying: “That was more than shocking. We have rules and if you don’t respect your own rules, then the game doesn’t make any sense. That’s shocking and, trust me, almost everybody was shocked. Just not everybody dared to speak.”
In a separate development six Nordic football associations said they had “lost confidence in the Fifa president and have serious concerns about the governance and high-level decision making of the organisation”, and requested binding assurances that Fifa will never again “open its governance or competitions to private ownership”, along with a full third-party review into the FFE scheme. The Norwegian Football Federation was reported as the first member association to call directly for Infantino to step down earlier in August. Infantino travelled from the Dominican Republic to Paris on Sunday to attend the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup, and television footage showed him exchanging greetings with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron.
Infantino faces a potential test at the Fifa presidential election in Rabat in March if he chooses to stand; Ceferin warned that a challenger would emerge and observers have suggested Victor Montagliani as a possible candidate.