Chevrin: FIFA's investment project has torn apart unity, and trust remains lost
OUIRAS – Reuters – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, a Slovenian, said that confidence in the world of football has not yet recovered following the collapse of the controversial private investment project proposed by FIFA, in his first public remarks since FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a Swiss, proposed reviewing the decision-making mechanisms within the governing body.
In a recorded video address at the “Portuguese Football Summit,” Ceferin emphasized that unity, transparency, and governance serving the interests of football as a whole are fundamental pillars for maintaining trust in the game. He stated: “But not everyone places the interests of the game above their personal ambitions.”
He added: “Trust in our sport rests on three pillars: unity, transparency, and governance that serves the majority, not the minority. Recently, these three pillars have been ignored by those who swore to protect them.”
He continued: “The project that tore apart the unity of world football may have been canceled, but the trust it undermined has not yet been restored, and rebuilding it is our task now.”
Ceferin did not mention Infantino or FIFA by name, but his remarks appeared to be a clear reference to the abandoned proposal to sell a 20 percent stake in FIFA’s commercial rights, including those for the World Cup, to private sector investors. The plan was dropped last July after strong opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF).
Ceferin said: “Football is not for sale. This is a message UEFA has promoted for years, and I am confident that this summit will help spread it more widely.”
Infantino said he would ask the FIFA Council to consider commissioning an independent review of the governance framework of the international federation regarding major strategic initiatives, and also proposed consultations with confederations, national associations, and other stakeholders on ways to strengthen decision-making mechanisms.
However, the message has not yet succeeded in allaying the concerns of several associations that have criticized Infantino over the proposed investment project.
The FIFA president had reaffirmed his commitment to continuing to lead the international federation, and is expected to run for a new term in the presidential election scheduled for March 2027.
For his part, Ceferin stressed the need for those managing the game to remember the entities they represent, saying: “Football will remain safe as long as those who run it always remember for whom they are running it.”
