UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin will not enter the race for the FIFA presidency and his comments have thrown up new uncertainty to Gianni Infantino’s bid to keep the helm of the world football’s governing body. Ceferin said he has no ambitions to replace Infantino, and that the FIFA president could be challenged by an opponent if he steps down.
Ceferin made the comments in a podcast, ‘The Rest Is Politics: Leading’, when he said that he was not interested in pursuing the top job at FIFA. The UEFA chief said that he enjoys his position as CEO and thinks there is value in maintaining his independence by not appearing to seek another position.
“One reason is that I love UEFA and I love working here also,” Ceferin said, and I think that at some point people should also have to make time to enjoy life. His credibility is much stronger when he’s not trying to be the president of FIFA himself, he said.
The comments are at the same time that FIFA leadership has been at loggerheads with a number of European football organisations. UEFA, for instance, objected to FIFA's reported plans to sell off stakes at the FIFA World Cup.
While Ceferin refused to rule out the election, he admitted that the next FIFA presidential election could still be very much a challenge for Infantino. Infantino has to decide, according to the UEFA president, that he is no longer supported by the wider football community and therefore should not go ahead. The other option would be to stand for the election and potentially face a rival.
“If he goes to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him,” Ceferin said. But he stopped short of identifying who that potential rival could be, saying he did not yet know the candidate.
Ceferin's remarks are significant because they suggest that opposition to Infantino might not necessarily disappear simply because the UEFA president himself is not interested in the FIFA position. Instead, a different figure could emerge to challenge the incumbent if the political and footballing environment becomes more favourable for a rival campaign.
The UEFA president also criticised FIFA Forward Enterprise and compared FIFA Forward Enterprise to the controversial European Super League project. Ceferin said that the FIFA proposal could pose an even greater threat to football than Super League plans which have drawn intense protest from the European clubs, leagues and fans.
“When you compared this plan with the Super League plan in the beginning, I think this plan is even worse than the Super League plan,” Ceferin said, arguing that football can be sold under such a model.
The dispute is the most recent manifestation of a wider dispute on the future commercial structure of international football. FIFA is looking for new ways to generate revenues and commercial opportunities, and European football authorities have stressed several times that the legacy of sports is the most important and the link between clubs, players and fans is the most important.
For Infantino, the issue might eventually go beyond a simple election campaign. Support from national associations is crucial for FIFA presidential elections, but Ceferin’s comments suggest that the wider sentiment among players, coaches, former players and fans may also get involved in the debate in this regard.
Ceferin made clear the importance of political support as well as support from the football world. In other words, the question of Infantino’s future can now be asked not only through formal voting alliances but also through the broader reality of his leadership.
Ceferin has said he doesn’t want the FIFA presidency for himself. If he does not go into the race, he will be able to talk truthfully about international football without being accused of using the situation as his own campaign.
As such, the next FIFA presidential elections could be very important for world football governance. If Infantino tries for another term again, the presence of a credible candidate could turn the game into a big political battle. That is to say, for the moment no one knows who the potential rival would be.
Ceferin's position is clear: he will remain focused on UEFA rather than seeking FIFA's top job. But his warning that Infantino might face an opponent has ensured that speculation over the future leadership of world football is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
