UEFA BOSS CEREFIN SAYS TRUST IN WORLD FOOTBALL REMAINS BROKEN AFTER FIFA INVESTMENT ROW

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* Ceferin says collapsed FIFA investment plan shattered unity of world football

* Proposal to sell 20% stake in FIFA commercial rights was dropped in July

* Infantino proposes independent external review of FIFA governance for strategic initiatives

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said trust in world football had not been restored following the collapse of FIFA’s controversial private-investment plan, in his first public comments since FIFA President Gianni Infantino offered a review of the governing body’s decision-making.

In a video address to the Portugal Football Summit on Wednesday, Ceferin said unity, transparency and governance that served the wider game were essential to maintaining trust in football.

"Yet not everyone places the game above their own ambitions,” Ceferin said.

"Trust in our sport rests on three pillars: unity, transparency, and governance that serves the many, not the few. In recent times, all three were disregarded by people who had sworn to protect them.

"The project that shattered the unity of world football may be abolished, but the trust it broke has not returned, and repairing it is our work now.”

Ceferin did not name Infantino or FIFA directly, but his comments were an apparent reference to the abandoned proposal to sell a 20% stake in FIFA’s commercial rights, including the World Cup, to private investors.

The plan was dropped in July after fierce opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF.

"Football is not for sale,” Ceferin said. "That is the message UEFA has carried for years, and I'm certain this summit will carry it further.”

His intervention came two days after Infantino sought to address the fallout in a letter to the FIFA Council and the presidents of all 211 member associations.

Infantino said he would ask the Council whether it wanted to commission an independent external review of FIFA’s governance framework for major strategic initiatives and proposed consultations with confederations, member associations and other stakeholders on strengthening its decision-making processes.

He said any review could examine the roles of the president, bureau, Council and Congress and ways to improve transparency and accountability.

The letter has so far failed to win over several federations that had criticised Infantino over the investment proposal.

Infantino has said he remains fully committed to leading FIFA and is expected to seek another term at the presidential election in March 2027.

Ceferin said those running the sport needed to remember whom they served.

"The game will remain safe if those who govern it remember whom they govern it for," he said.

- REUTERS/OEIRAS, PORTUGAL

UEFA PRESIDENT CEFERIN DID NOT ATTEND WORLD CUP FINAL IN PROTEST

Aleksander Ceferin stayed away from the World Cup final in protest,

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin stayed away from the World Cup final in protest, with the Folarin Balogun affair understood to be just one aspect of his organisation’s discontent with Fifa.

The Times reported today that the Slovenian had stayed away, with the relationship between European football’s governing body and the game’s global federation under severe strain.

It was reported that Ceferin chose not to attend the match in New Jersey over the Uefa president’s anger of Fifa’s handling of the World Cup The European football body was publicly critical of the decision by Fifa’s disciplinary committee to suspend a one-match ban for United States striker Balogun, calling it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and saying it had “crossed a red line.”

The suspension of the ban followed a call from US President Donald Trump to Fifa president Gianni Infantino asking for a “review” of Balogun’s red card, raising questions of political influence in Fifa’s decision-making.

That influence certainly did not appear to be reciprocal, with Fifa powerless to prevent the US authorities sending home Somali referee Omar Artan before the tournament had even started. Uefa subsequently appointed Artan to officiate next month’s Uefa Super Cup final.

Fifa also failed to ensure equitable treatment for Iran compared to the other 47 nations, with the Asian nation subject to strict conditions on their entry to and exit from the US. Their coach, Amir Ghalenoei, said his team were the “most oppressed” at the World Cup, while US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he “danced a happy dance” when the team were eliminated.

There is also discontent at Uefa over Fifa’s apparent willingness to bend or break football’s laws at the tournament — with hydration breaks effectively splitting matches into four-quarters and allowing broadcasters to cut to adverts, and the 27-minute half-time interval at the World Cup final well in excess of the maximum 15 minutes permitted.

Ceferin has also been publicly critical of Fifa’s ticket pricing strategy for the tournament, with Uefa having revealed that 40 per cent of tickets for Euro 2028 will be in the most affordable categories and priced at around £30 or £60, and having also pledged not to adopt dynamic pricing.