Ceferin rules himself out of Fifa presidency race, predicts challenge to Infantino

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin, 57, has confirmed he will not seek the Fifa presidency, despite being widely tipped as a potential challenger to Gianni Infantino. Speaking on The Rest Is Politics podcast, he said he loves his role at Uefa and wants to enjoy life, adding that his influence is stronger precisely because he isn't seeking the job.

Ceferin said he sees two possible outcomes for Infantino: either he accepts he lacks support from the football community, fans, players and coaches and steps aside, or he stands at the Fifa Congress in March 2027 and faces an as-yet-unnamed rival candidate.

Tension has grown since Infantino abandoned a controversial plan to create Fifa Forward Enterprise, a company that would have managed commercial and ticketing rights across Fifa competitions, with 21% sold to a private investor. Uefa led opposition to the scheme, with its members voting to boycott World Cups if it wasn't scrapped, and the body said it had lost confidence in Infantino.

Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation issued a joint letter accusing Infantino of deception. All home nations' football associations have withdrawn support, while Conmebol and Caf continue to back him. Former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o, now head of Cameroon's football association, defended Infantino, praising his record of helping smaller footballing nations.

Ceferin described the scrapped plan as "worse than the Super League" and said Uefa had no advance knowledge of it. He also referenced an incident in which US President Donald Trump reportedly called Infantino directly to request a red-card suspension against player Folarin Balogun be overturned at the World Cup, calling the episode shocking.