UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has emerged as the most prominent opponent of FIFA's plan to sell shares in its tournaments, leading European football's governing body to vote for a boycott of FIFA competitions this week.
The move came after a leaked proposal to sell £3.1 billion worth of shares in FIFA's tournaments to an investor group led by the brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF have since joined the boycott.
Ceferin, who also holds the position of FIFA vice president, had already signalled his mood last month when he pointedly skipped the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New York, where Spain faced Argentina. The reported reason was FIFA's decision to suspend the red card ban of US forward Folarin Balogun. UEFA said the decision had "crossed a red line."
From Ljubljana to the top of European football
Ceferin trained as a lawyer at the University of Ljubljana before moving into sports law and then football administration, first as head of the Slovenian Football Association. Both he and Infantino rose to their current roles in 2016, having previously worked together at UEFA in the early 2010s, when Infantino served as Secretary General and Ceferin held positions on the organisation's Legal Committee. That shared history has not produced warmth between them.
A year of flashpoints
The 2026 World Cup gave Ceferin a long list of grievances. Beyond Balogun's red card, which UEFA called "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable," the organisation used the tournament to take a public shot at FIFA over the treatment of Somalian referee Omar Artan. The 34-year-old had been barred from entering the United States by the Trump administration, preventing him from officiating at the World Cup. While FIFA drew criticism for its silence, UEFA announced that Artan would referee the Super Cup final between Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain and Europa League winners Aston Villa in August, the most high-profile appointment of his career.
UEFA also confirmed it will not introduce mandatory hydration breaks at the 2028 European Championships, a practice the organisation views as a vehicle for additional advertising time. Its referees will not sanction players for covering their mouths during on-field conversations, as FIFA referees did during the tournament.
In April, Ceferin called the idea of expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams a "bad" one, saying Infantino's proposal on the matter had been "maybe even more surprising for me" than for fans.
Perhaps the lowest point of the year came at FIFA's annual Congress last May. Infantino arrived more than two hours late after accompanying Donald Trump on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East. During a break, Ceferin led a walkout of some European FIFA member association representatives and accused Infantino of placing "private political interests" above football governance. Infantino defended himself. "As president of FIFA my responsibility is to make decisions in the interests of the organization," he said. "I felt that I needed to be there to represent football and all of you." Ceferin boycotted this year's Congress entirely.
Older battles
The friction between the two men stretches back further. When FIFA relaunched the Club World Cup in expanded form, awarding eventual winners Chelsea an £84 million prize pot and a Tiffany and Co-designed trophy, Ceferin treated it as a direct threat to the Champions League. As early as 2018, he accused Infantino of "selling the soul of football."
"As long as I am UEFA president there will be no room for pursuing selfish endeavours or hiding behind false pretences," Ceferin said at the time. "Money does not rule - and the European sports model must be respected. Football is not for sale."
When the Club World Cup eventually ran, extending an already crowded season, Ceferin was more measured but did not change his view. "The calendar is oversaturated," he said. "Players are overloaded and getting injured."
The Super League
Ceferin's most intense confrontation before the current dispute came in 2021, when clubs including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United announced the formation of a breakaway European Super League on the eve of a UEFA Executive Committee meeting. The move hit Ceferin personally: Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, one of the founders, is a close friend whose daughter Ceferin counts as one of his godchildren.
UEFA moved to ban the clubs from its competitions. A statement called the ESL "a spit in the face of football lovers and of society as a whole" and threatened to bar players at founding clubs from Euro 2020. When fan protests prompted most clubs to withdraw, Ceferin welcomed them back.
He later compared the ordeal to his military service during the Slovenian Territorial Army's 1991 war of independence as Yugoslavia collapsed. "It finished very soon, in 10 days, but there was a lot of tension - day and night - and threats and bombs," he told AP. "Psychologically, (the announcement) was such a shock for me. Similar to the war."
"Spoiled children cannot destabilise me," he added.
A less clean record
Ceferin presents himself as a defender of football's values, but his record is not without blemish. An investigation by independent outlet Josimar in 2017 alleged he lacked the credentials required for his appointment as head of the Slovenian FA, as he did not meet the mandatory minimum five years of football boardroom experience. His only rival in that election, Tugo Frajman, withdrew before the vote and cited Ceferin's "dirty campaigning" as his reason.
Whether that history matters in the current dispute is a separate question. In leading the push against Infantino's share sale plan, Ceferin has positioned himself as the sport's defender of last resort. His adversary, for now, shows no sign of backing down.
