Ceferin slams Infantino's World Cup sell-off as 'even worse than Super League' — FIFA chief hijacks Caribbean meeting, sparking Concacaf fury

24 August 2026 | Zurich, Paris, Punta Cana — Updated 22:30 GMT

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has condemned Gianni Infantino's doomed attempt to sell stakes in the World Cup as "even worse than the Super League plan" and warned his embattled FIFA counterpart that he will face an opponent if he runs for re-election next March.

Ceferin has led UEFA's firm collective stance against the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, which was shelved amid widespread opposition at the start of August. UEFA are pushing for Infantino to quit, also drawing on support from Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation, and are yet to drop a threat to boycott FIFA competitions while talks are under way with Concacaf to set up a combined Nations League tournament.

Gianni Infantino has risked alienating numerous Concacaf nations, whose support he is seeking in his re-election campaign, by hijacking a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to announce FIFA-funded development projects for the region with millions of dollars that had been delayed for months.

Welcome to the latest sports news — where football's power struggle, Caribbean politics, and the fight for FIFA's future intensify.

Ceferin: Infantino's World Cup Sell-Off Plan 'Even Worse Than the Super League'

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has condemned Gianni Infantino's doomed attempt to sell stakes in the World Cup as "even worse than the Super League plan" and warned his embattled FIFA counterpart that he will face an opponent if he runs for re-election next March.

Ceferin has led UEFA's firm collective stance against the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, which was shelved amid widespread opposition at the start of August. UEFA are pushing for Infantino to quit, also drawing on support from Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation, and are yet to drop a threat to boycott FIFA competitions while talks are under way with Concacaf to set up a combined Nations League tournament.

In an interview with the podcast The Rest is Politics: Leading, Ceferin denounced Infantino's project as more damaging than the breakaway Super League that was shelved in 2021 after large-scale protests. "I think this plan is even worse than the Super League plan," he said. "In the first case, 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 [FFE] plan is dead. For me, the most important thing is that we stopped another try to sell the sport. It's hard to imagine what kind of people would sell the sport that belongs to everyone."

Earlier this month it was reported that Infantino had held talks about running the Super League under FIFA branding. Ceferin is confident that any revival of that plan would be decades away. "It might happen in 20 years, you never know, but for now we cooperate with everyone in a great way. I'm sure it cannot happen in the next 10 years," he said.

Infantino Infuriates Concacaf Nations by Hijacking Caribbean Football Union Meeting

Gianni Infantino has risked alienating numerous Concacaf nations, whose support he is seeking in his re-election campaign, by hijacking a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to announce FIFA-funded development projects for the region with millions of dollars that had been delayed for months.

Multiple sources attending the CFU meeting in the Dominican Republic said many of the Concacaf members were infuriated by Infantino's behaviour, particularly as he had been asked to stay away by their president, Victor Montagliani.

The Concacaf position echoes previous complaints about FIFA's operations from the Jordan FA, whose president, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, accused Infantino of bribery this month when he claimed they have not received prize money from last year's Arab Cup due to the country's failure to endorse the president.

Infantino appears to have seen the CFU meeting as an opportunity to lobby for election votes among Caribbean countries in the hope of causing a split within Concacaf, who have aligned with UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation in demanding his resignation after the World Cup sell-off debacle.

In a letter addressed to Infantino on Friday, Montagliani had asked the FIFA president "in the name of football to reconsider your attendance", pointing out his presence would take the spotlight away from a regional under-14 tournament being held alongside the meeting.

Despite that entreaty, Infantino is understood to have turned up at the resort of Punta Cana with a large FIFA entourage including the secretary general, Mattias Grafström, and Elkhan Mammadov, a staunch ally who is responsible for maintaining good relations with the 211 members in his role as director of member associations.

Before making funding pledges in the CFU meeting, Infantino's team are understood to have approached individual member associations lobbying for support. Mammadov has played a central role in attempts to keep them onside since the Fifa Forward Enterprise scandal broke and his insistent approach has caused disquiet in some quarters.

One source said the official FIFA party had attempted to portray their governance crisis as a private dispute between Infantino and Montagliani. The Canadian businessman has not commented since news of the proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise emerged, but has been widely touted in Europe as a possible contender to replace Infantino.

The pair met briefly and shook hands before the CFU meeting in an exchange captured by Infantino's personal camera crew.

Ceferin: Infantino Will Face Opponent if He Seeks Re-election

Infantino spent much of the weekend courting support from Concacaf members at a meeting in the Dominican Republic, infuriating many of those present. Ceferin, who revealed the pair had not been in contact since the FFE scandal broke, believes the FIFA president's path to survival is narrowing.

"I didn't speak with him, he didn't contact me since this happened," he said. "But there are two options. One option is that he realises that he doesn't have the support, and that's not only political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of the football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches.

"And the second option [is] that he goes to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don't know yet who." The Concacaf president, Victor Montagliani, has been tipped as a potential opponent for Infantino if he chooses to run in Rabat.

Ceferin has proponents of his own but ruled out making his own bid for the FIFA presidency. "My credibility is much, much, much higher if I'm not interested in the position," he said. The Slovenian is expected to run unopposed for a fourth term at the helm of UEFA, with the election due next April.

Nordic Football Associations Say They Have 'Lost Confidence' in Infantino

Meanwhile, in a fresh show of European opposition to Infantino, the six Nordic football associations issued a statement saying they had "lost confidence in the FIFA president and have serious concerns about the governance and high-level decision making of the organisation". They asked for binding assurances that FIFA will never again "open its governance or competitions to private ownership" and called for a full third-party review into the FFE scheme.

Earlier in August the Norwegian Football Federation was the first member association to call directly for Infantino to step down.

Infantino travelled straight from the Dominican Republic to Paris on Sunday, attending the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup. Television footage showed him exchanging greetings with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron.

Concacaf Nations Split as Infantino Seeks to Break Alliance with UEFA

While Mexico, Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis have all broken with Concacaf and declared their support for Infantino, the majority of their 41 members are understood to back the alliance with UEFA advocated by Montagliani.

The UEFA/Concacaf pact extends beyond attempts to unseat Infantino, with the two confederations in talks about setting up a joint Nations League in 2028 that could develop further into a new global competition.

FIFA's official website published an article 24 hours after the meeting in which Infantino claimed to have received a warm welcome, although he conceded that alternative options were expressed.

Ceferin: 'Naive' to Think Politicians Are Your Friends

Asked whether Infantino had become too close to Donald Trump, with whom he forged a close relationship before the recent World Cup, Ceferin said: "To be honest, I think you are naive if you think that a politician like that, or any politician, is your good friend. The moment you are a problem, you stop being a friend of a politician."

That friendship came under the spotlight last month when Trump said he had called Infantino to ask for a review of the red card given to the US striker Folarin Balogun, whose ban for the last-16 tie against Belgium was later suspended.

"That was more than shocking," Ceferin said. "We have rules and if you don't respect your own rules, then the game doesn't make any sense. That's shocking and, trust me, almost everybody was shocked. Just not everybody dared to speak."

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