UEFA President Ceferin Slams FIFA: 'Football Is Not for Sale

Trust in global football governance remains broken following the collapse of a controversial FIFA proposal to sell private equity stakes in its commercial rights, according to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. Speaking at the Portugal Football Summit on Wednesday, Čeferin warned that unity, transparency, and administrative accountability continue to be sidelined by individual ambitions within the sport’s highest levels.

The Three Pillars of Football Governance

According to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, trust within the global game rests upon three fundamental pillars: unity, transparency, and governance that serves the majority rather than a select few. In his address at the Portugal Football Summit, Čeferin stated that those exact principles have recently been neglected by the very administrators sworn to protect them. While a specific commercial project that threatened international unity has been scrapped, the confidence lost during the ordeal has not yet returned.

The Background of the Abandoned Private Equity Plan

Čeferin’s remarks targeted an aborted FIFA initiative to sell a 20-percent stake in its commercial rights—including assets tied to the FIFA World Cup—to private investors. That strategic plan was ultimately abandoned in July following intense opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation, and CONCACAF. “Football is not for sale,” Čeferin stated during his address, emphasizing a long-standing position held by European football’s governing body.

Infantino’s Response and Upcoming Elections

The intervention by the UEFA leadership followed a letter sent by Gianni Infantino to the FIFA Council and the presidents of all 211 national member associations. Infantino proposed asking the FIFA Council to commission an independent, external audit of the organization’s governance framework for major strategic initiatives. The proposed review would examine the roles of the president, the administration, the Council, and the Congress while exploring methods to bolster institutional transparency and accountability. Despite the proposed review, the letter has not yet won over several national federations that openly criticized the private investment model. Infantino remains fully committed to leading FIFA and is widely expected to seek another term at the presidential election scheduled for March 2027.