Infantino warned by Uefa chief that trust in global football is broken after failed World Cup sell-off plan

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Trust within global football remains broken following the collapse of Fifa’s controversial private investment plan, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin stated in his first public remarks since Fifa president Gianni Infantino offered a review of the organisation’s decision-making.

Addressing the Portugal Football Summit via video link on Wednesday, Ceferin said unity, transparency and governance serving the broader game were vital to maintaining confidence in football.

“Yet 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.”

While Ceferin made no direct mention of Infantino or Fifa, his remarks pointedly referenced the abandoned scheme to sell a 20 per cent stake in Fifa’s commercial rights, including the World Cup, to private investors. That plan collapsed in July following intense opposition from Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf.

“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.”

His comments came two days after Infantino tried to address the reaction in a letter distributed to the Fifa Council and the presidents of all 211 member associations.

Infantino wrote that he would ask the Council if it favoured commissioning an independent external review into Fifa’s governance framework regarding major strategic initiatives, alongside consultations with confederations, member associations and stakeholders to strengthen decision-making.

He noted that any review could inspect the roles of the president, bureau, Council and Congress to enhance accountability and operational transparency.

So far, the letter has failed to reassure multiple federations that voiced criticism over Infantino’s private equity proposal.

Infantino maintains he is fully dedicated to leading Fifa and is anticipated to seek re-election during the upcoming presidential vote in March 2027.

Ceferin added that individuals governing the sport must remember who they serve.

“The game will remain safe if those who govern it remember whom they govern it for,” he said.