The head of European football’s governing body, UEFA, stated that he will not run for the presidency of the International Association Football Federation (FIFA), but called for the resignation of Gianni Infantino.
Aleksander Ceferin, the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), said that if Infantino does not resign, he will face a leadership challenge in March.
Infantino has come under pressure after revealing a plan to allow private capital, through a company called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), into the commercialization of international football competitions.
“One option is that he [Infantino] realizes he has no support, and this refers not only to the political support of those who vote, but also to the political support of the football community, the political support of fans, the political support of players, former players, and coaches,” Ceferin said in an interview with the British podcast “The Rest is Politics: Leading,” which will air today.
Read more about this topic: UEFA to boycott World Cup over FIFA’s $20 billion investment plan (with video)
“And the second option is that he stands for election in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don’t know who yet,” added the UEFA leader. Currently, Infantino, who has been FIFA president since 2016, is the sole candidate, and the deadline for submitting candidacies is set for November 18. The election is scheduled for March 2027 in Morocco.
Despite being widely seen as a potential challenger to Infantino, the 58-year-old Ceferin expressed his commitment to UEFA.
“I am not interested for two reasons. One is that I love UEFA and I love working here, and I think at a certain point (…) it will be time to enjoy life a bit as well,” explained the Slovenian. “And the second point is that my credibility is much, much higher if I am not interested in the position,” Ceferin added.
The UEFA president’s comments were extracted from the podcast and published on Sunday by British media outlets. On Wednesday, the chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, Noel Mooney, publicly called for Gianni Infantino’s resignation.
Read more about this topic: UEFA weighs legal action against FIFA, demands preservation of documents
Wales was the first UEFA member nation to withdraw its support for Infantino earlier this month. In early August, Scotland had also withdrawn its support for the Italian-Swiss official’s re-election.
The FFE project envisioned raising up to 4.2 billion dollars (3.64 billion euros) through the sale of a minority stake of up to 20 percent to private investors. Among the potential interested parties was the Thrive Eternal fund, founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The confederations of Europe, Asia, and North, Central America and Caribbean accused the FIFA president of abandoning his duty by placing himself “above the collective that entrusted him with authority.”
