UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has said trust in world football remains broken, months after FIFA scrapped its controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.
Ceferin, speaking publicly on the issue for the first time since Gianni Infantino proposed an independent review of the governing body’s decision-making, did not mention FIFA or its president by name during an address to the Portugal Football Summit on Wednesday — but his message was clear as he referenced a “project” that has “shattered the unity of world football.”
“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.”
The dispute, which has dominated the aftermath of the 2026 World Cup, centred on FIFA’s proposal to sell a 20% stake in its commercial rights — including the World Cup — to private investors.
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The plan faced opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf, while UEFA’s 55 member associations warned they would not participate in FIFA competitions if it went ahead. FIFA eventually abandoned the proposal in July.
“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.”
The row has now moved on to how FIFA makes its biggest decisions.
Infantino wrote to FIFA’s 211 member associations and members of its Council on Monday, setting out possible changes in response to the criticism — including how it deals with major projects.
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Infantino said he would put the idea to the FIFA Council, rather than announcing a review himself. The Council meets again on Oct. 15.
For Ceferin, however, withdrawing the investment proposal has not drawn a line under the episode.
“The game will remain safe if those who govern it remember whom they govern it for,” he said.
