Aleksander Ceferin, the president of UEFA, has said he will not run against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but warned the embattled head of world football that he must resign or face a challenge to his leadership in March.
Infantino has come under growing pressure to abandon his now-scrapped plan to sell stakes in football's most important tournament, the World Cup, to private equity investors. Three of the sport's continental confederations accused him of deception over the plan, and UEFA, the governing body of European football, threatened to boycott FIFA competitions in response.
Speaking to the British podcast "The Rest is Politics: Leading," due to be broadcast on Monday, Ceferin said one option was for Infantino to recognise that he lacks support, not only the political backing of the officials who vote for him, but also the backing of the wider football community, including fans, players, former players and coaches.
The second option, Ceferin said, was for Infantino to stand in the March elections, in which case he believed Infantino would face a rival candidate, though he said he did not yet know who that would be. Ceferin's remarks were first published in excerpts carried by British media ahead of the podcast's release.
Pressure over private equity plan
The row centres on Infantino's proposal to bring private equity money into the World Cup, football's biggest and most lucrative competition. The plan has since been dropped, but the backlash it triggered, including accusations of deception from three continental confederations and UEFA's threat of a boycott, has left Infantino facing the most serious challenge to his authority since he took charge of FIFA.
November deadline for candidates
Infantino has led FIFA, the global governing body of football, since 2016. Until the controversy over his World Cup proposals, he had appeared all but certain to be re-elected unopposed next year at FIFA's congress in Morocco. FIFA has set 18 November as the deadline for prospective candidates to submit their nominations.
Ceferin's own position
Despite being widely seen as a potential challenger to Infantino, Ceferin, 58, used the interview to reaffirm his commitment to UEFA, the body he has led as president since 2016.
He said he was not interested in the FIFA job for two reasons. The first, he said, was that he loves UEFA and enjoys working there, adding that he believed there comes a point when it is time to enjoy life a little as well. The second reason, he said, was that his credibility is far greater precisely because he is not interested in the position.
