Aleksander Ceferin renews attack on Gianni Infantino

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has intensified his dispute with FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino after the governing body abandoned a plan to bring private investors into its structure. Speaking in Copenhagen on Tuesday, Ceferin argued that football should be developed and modernised without allowing its leaders to treat it as personal property.

Addressing the European Football Clubs assembly, Ceferin said football was larger than the people running its institutions and that administrators were custodians rather than owners. He called for an end to what he sees as excessive personal control, without naming Infantino directly. He also used Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of the emperor’s new clothes to portray a leader surrounded by people unwilling to acknowledge an obvious problem.

The dispute could move beyond public criticism. UEFA is considering a complaint against Infantino for alleged disloyal management linked to the investor proposal. Such a case would require proof that the FIFA president deliberately harmed the organisation’s interests, and the offence carries a possible prison sentence of up to five years. Infantino was absent from the Copenhagen meeting and was represented by FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström.

Nasser al-Khelaifi, the Paris Saint-Germain president and head of the European clubs’ organisation, said football was losing time dealing with the issue. He backed greater transparency and dialogue, aligning himself with Ceferin as the disagreement continues to divide football’s governing leadership.