Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA President, ruled out running for the FIFA presidency in the election scheduled for March 2027, citing his love for UEFA and a desire to enjoy life outside the role [1, 2, 3]. "One reason is that I love UEFA and I love working here, and I think that at a certain point you have also, I mean, it's time also to enjoy life a bit," Ceferin said [1]. He added that his credibility was higher by not pursuing the FIFA post [4].
Ceferin criticized FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s controversial proposal to create Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), a company that would manage commercial and ticketing rights for FIFA competitions, with up to 21% sold to private investors [1, 2, 3]. UEFA and its 55 member associations strongly opposed the plan, including large associations like England and Germany as well as smaller nations such as San Marino and Liechtenstein [1, 5]. Ceferin called the plan "even worse than the European Super League plan" UEFA defeated in 2021 [1]. He stated, "I'm absolutely sure that the plan is dead. It's hard to imagine what kind of people would sell the sport that belongs to everyone" [3].
Since the controversy erupted, Ceferin said he has had no contact with Infantino [1, 2, 3]. He warned that Infantino faces likely opposition if he runs for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March 2027. Ceferin said Infantino has two options: step down if he realizes he lacks support or face a challenger in the upcoming election [1, 6]. "There are two options. One option is that he realises that he doesn't have the support... The second option that he goes to the elections in March, but... he will have a candidate against him. I don't know yet who," Ceferin said [1].
CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani and Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa are considered likely challengers [6, 7]. Infantino has lost backing from UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC following the fallout over the FFE plan [2, 3, 6]. Ceferin also criticized Infantino’s close ties with U.S. politicians, calling the relationship opportunistic [8].
Infantino has recently courted support from CONCACAF members in the Dominican Republic in response to the backlash [2, 3, 6, 9]. The next FIFA Congress is scheduled for March 2027 in Morocco, where Infantino may seek re-election amid these challenges [1, 6, 9, 7, 8, 4].
