UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has condemned Gianni Infantino's abandoned plan to sell stakes in FIFA competitions to private investment firms, saying the proposal is "even worse" than the European Super League and insisting it is "dead".
UEFA chief's scathing verdict
Speaking to the Rest is Politics podcast, Ceferin 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."
He added: "I'm absolutely sure that the plan is dead. It's hard to imagine what kind of people would sell the sport that belongs to everyone. We will not allow that to happen."
Pressure mounts on Infantino
Infantino, 56, was forced to withdraw the plan after UEFA threatened to boycott all FIFA events, including the World Cup. UEFA was joined by Concacaf and 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body has since said it has lost confidence in Infantino, while the football associations of all the home nations have withdrawn support for the former UEFA general secretary.
Ceferin rules out FIFA candidacy
Ceferin claimed UEFA had no prior knowledge of the plan, saying 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 being raised over a potential successor to Infantino ahead of FIFA's presidential election in March, but Ceferin has ruled himself out, citing his love for UEFA and his credibility.
Trump intervention criticism
Infantino has also faced scrutiny over his closeness to US President Donald Trump, particularly after US striker Folarin Balogun had a red card suspension overturned during the World Cup after Trump said he personally called Infantino to request 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. I mean, for us as football fans, or for us as a governing body, that's shocking. That's shocking, and - trust me - almost everybody was shocked. Just not everybody dared to speak."
