The UEFA-FIFA war rages on: new twist rocks world football | OneFootball

Total war in the boardrooms! FIFA’s blistering judicial response blows up the peace with UEFA. Aleksander Ceferin lashes out at Gianni Infantino in Copenhagen while FIFA accuses UEFA of harassment and bad faith.

The EFC summit in Copenhagen was far from an oasis of peace, instead being marked by the brutal escalation of hostilities between UEFA and FIFA. Aleksander Ceferin let loose against Gianni Infantino — without mentioning him directly — firmly declaring that «football is not for sale» and that it «does not need kings and emperors». FIFA’s response was swift through its secretary general, Mattias Grafström, who attended the meeting but barely exchanged a formal greeting with the European leaders.

In the middle of the Assembly, news broke of the forceful response filed by FIFA before the Florida District Court regarding UEFA’s attempt to investigate the privatization of the World Cup. The lawyers for Gianni Infantino’s organization formally accused UEFA of carrying out a «disinformation campaign» based on conduct marked by «bad faith and intended harassment». The legal filing argues that UEFA spread self-serving falsehoods to evade its own responsibilities and undermine FIFA’s presidential campaign.

Against this backdrop of open confrontation, UEFA is already working behind the scenes to find an alternative candidate to Infantino for next March’s election. The European strategy is to find a figure, preferably non-European, capable of rallying consensus among the international confederations. For his part, Nasser Al-Khelaifi categorically ruled out any personal ambition to lead that alternative candidacy, making it clear that Copenhagen was the stage for deep political battles.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.