UEFA chief Ceferin destroys Infantino over FIFA sale saga – 'Plan is dead'

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has hit out at Gianni Infantino over his ill-fated plan to sell stakes in FIFA competitions to private investment firms. The Swiss Italian is under growing pressure after his controversial idea sparked global outrage.

The move saw European football's governing body, UEFA, threaten to boycott all FIFA events, including the World Cup. Infantino was eventually forced to withdraw his plan, but pressure on the 56-year-old has not gone away.

UEFA were joined by Concacaf, the federation for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, as well as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), in a joint letter accusing FIFA of a "fundamental breach of trust" and "deception".

European football's governing body has since said it has lost confidence in Infantino, while the football associations of all the home nations have withdrawn support for the former UEFA general secretary.

And Ceferin has spoken strongly to the Rest is Politics podcast on why Infantino's decision was so flawed. The Slovenian believes it was worse than the controversial European Super League plan, which saw Europe's biggest club sides threaten to break away before it collapsed in April 2021.

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He said: "I think this plan is even worse than the Super League plan.

"Super important clubs wanted to do their own league, which is wrong, and would destroy football. But in this case, football would be literally sold.

"I'm absolutely sure that the plan is dead. It's hard to to imagine what kind of people would sell the sport that belongs to everyone. We will not allow that to happen."

Ceferin claims that UEFA had no prior knowledge of Infantino's plan. The 58-year-old says he learned about it through the media while on holiday with his family.

"He didn't contact me since this happened," Ceferin said. "They [FIFA] play on, you know, '[how] arrogant Europe is against us: They have enough money, but I help the small and the poor'.

"But I think someone should remind him that he is a European, and that he was supported by UEFA, which he forgot."

Questions are now being raised over a potential successor to Infantino ahead of FIFA's presidential election in March. However, Ceferin has ruled himself out.

"I'm not interested because of two reasons," the UEFA president said. "One reason is that I love UEFA and I love working here, and I think that at a certain point it's time also to enjoy life a bit.

"And the second point is, my credibility is much, much, much higher if I'm not interested in the position."

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Infantino has also come under pressure over his closeness to United States President Donald Trump. That came under increased scrutiny after US striker Folarin Balogun had a red card suspension overturned during the World Cup. Trump revealed he personally called Infantino to request that the sanction be lifted.

Ceferin said: "That was more than shocking. We have rules, and if you don't respect your own rules, then the game doesn't make any sense.

"The president of a country says: 'I called him, and I told him to look at it.' And then the FIFA president says it was an independent decision.