UEFA’s Ceferin says FIFA trust still broken after Infantino investment row

Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, said in a video address to the Portugal Football Summit that trust in world football remains fractured following the collapse of FIFA’s plan to sell a portion of its commercial rights to private investors. Ceferin framed trust as relying on unity, transparency and governance that benefits the many rather than a few, and said those principles had been overlooked by people entrusted to protect them. Ceferin did not name individuals in his remarks, but his comments were widely read as a response to the abandoned proposal to sell a 20% stake in FIFA’s commercial rights, including the World Cup. That proposal was withdrawn in July after strong opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, a split that Ceferin said had shattered unity within world football. Two days before Ceferin’s address, FIFA president Gianni Infantino wrote to the FIFA Council and all 211 member associations proposing a review of the organisation’s decision-making. Infantino said he would ask the council whether it wished to commission an independent external review of FIFA’s governance framework for major strategic initiatives and suggested consultations with confederations, member associations and other stakeholders to strengthen processes and accountability. Despite that offer, Ceferin said the damage to trust has not yet been repaired and that restoring it would be the work ahead. He reiterated UEFA’s longstanding stance that "football is not for sale," and urged those who govern the sport to remember whom they serve as debates over governance and commercial strategy continue at the global level.