Aleksander Ceferin launches fresh scathing attack at Gianni Infantino: ‘The emperor is naked’

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin tore into his Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino in a speech to European clubs on Tuesday.

Speaking in Copenhagen, Ceferin referenced Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ as he implored clubs to say “enough” and pull their support for Infantino in response to the Swiss’ handling of a plan to bring private investors into a new World Cup commercial vehicle.

Infantino appeared to blindside Fifa’s member associations and even its own Council in developing the plan.

“An emperor is persuaded that he is wearing magnificent clothes – clothes which, he is told, only the foolish or unfit cannot see,” Ceferin said.

“His court goes along with it. Until a child simply says aloud what everyone can see: the emperor is naked. Perhaps the moral of the story is this: convenient words cannot change uncomfortable realities.

“Selling part of football’s future does not become development because you call it development. Putting a fait accompli in front of national associations does not become democratisation because you call it democratisation, however big the cheque is. And secrecy does not become consultation because you call it consultation.

“Let me ask you to imagine a situation. Imagine one of your senior executives secretly negotiating away control of your club’s crown jewels. You didn’t know. Your board didn’t know. Your players didn’t know. Your fans didn’t know.

“By the time you find out, the deal is almost done. What would your board do?”

Ceferin also referenced Fifa’s handling of the Folarin Balogun case, when the United States striker’s one-match ban was suspended following a call from US president Donald Trump to Infantino.

open image in gallery

Aleksander Ceferin was speaking in Copenhagen to European clubs (Reuters)

“Imagine that same person creates an award for a politician, and then soon after, that politician takes a phone, calls, and the rules are not the same any more,” he said.

“How many times would this have to happen at your clubs before the board says enough? Well, my friends, I think it’s time to say enough.”

On the same day, LaLiga president Javier Tebas called the Balogun incident “the most serious incident in the history of football” while speaking at a summit organised by FifPro.

“When you are presiding over Uefa, Fifa or Concacaf, where your decisions affect many more stakeholders across the industry, the point is to reach an agreement,” Tebas said. “Consultation is not enough for me. They tell you their views, you raise your concerns, and then they go ahead and do what they want. That is not how it should work. That model has to change.

“We have Fifa, which has overturned a red card because the president of a country called the Fifa president. This is the most serious incident in the history of football. I think that, for this to be resolved, the issue of governance has to be addressed clearly.

Javier Tebas called the Folarin Balogun scandal the "most serious incident in the history of football" (Reuters)

“We are going to live through some important months in the world of football, but we must not repeat what happened with Infantino’s arrival, when Blatter was removed, with everything that happened, only to have different people with the same ideas. There needs to be someone who can devise a change in governance.”

Along with Tebas, Ceferin and Uefa have previously called on Infantino to stand down. Uefa has warned it will identify a credible candidate to stand against Infantino if he seeks re-election next year, although time is running out with the candidacy deadline set for 18 November.

EFC chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi, arguably the European club game’s most powerful figure, also appeared to come out publicly against Infantino in his speech just before Ceferin’s.

Hours after Fifa accused Uefa of “harassment” in response to the European confederation seeking disclosure of documents related to the private investor plan through the US courts, Al Khelaifi said: “It is really sad to see the situation today.

“Instead of improving our game, we are wasting our time dealing with problems and issues. Football works when we listen to each other. When we are transparent between us. But most of all, when we are honest. And whatever our differences – football is bigger and more important than any one of us.”

Al Khelaifi revealed the intention to expand EFC and create World Football Clubs, only adding to its strength as a key player in the global game.