UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin delivered a sharp critique of FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Tuesday, denouncing Infantino’s abandoned plan to sell a stake in FIFA’s commercial rights as a flawed and undemocratic initiative.
Speaking at the European Football Clubs General Assembly in Copenhagen, Ceferin likened Infantino’s proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise project to the tale of "The Emperor’s New Clothes," a reference to the 19th-century story by Hans Christian Andersen. Ceferin suggested that, like the emperor in the tale, FIFA leadership had been deluded about the merits of the scheme until its obvious shortcomings became clear.
The FIFA Forward Enterprise plan would have created a commercial subsidiary under FIFA’s control, managing rights to major events such as the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup. Under this proposal, private investors could acquire up to a 20 percent share in the new entity. Infantino had argued that the plan aimed to increase funding for football development globally and said it would be subject to a democratic consultation involving FIFA’s 211 member associations. However, widespread opposition led to the proposal being shelved.
Ceferin challenged the language FIFA used to describe the project, accusing officials of misrepresenting it as “development,” “democratization,” and “consultation.” He argued that these terms were employed to obscure what he described as the project’s true nature: a sale of football’s commercial future without proper transparency or involvement of key stakeholders.
“Selling part of football’s future does not become development because you say it’s development,” Ceferin said. He criticized the lack of genuine consultation, accusing FIFA of presenting a fait accompli to national associations and using secrecy rather than openness in its dealings.
Ceferin asked attending club executives to consider a hypothetical scenario where a senior official negotiated away critical assets without informing their clubs’ boards, players, or fans until the deal was nearly complete. He also cited an example of potential conflicts of interest, alluding to situations where awards are given to politicians who then influence changing rules to benefit those involved.
“How many times would this have to happen at your clubs before the world says ’enough’?” Ceferin asked, concluding that such practices have persisted long enough within world football governance.
The UEFA president accused unnamed decision-makers of bending rules for convenience, excluding key stakeholders, and treating football’s future as a negotiable commodity rather than a shared legacy. His remarks underscored ongoing tensions between UEFA and FIFA over governance, transparency, and the commercial direction of the sport.