UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has ruled out a bid for the FIFA presidency in March 2027 but said he expects Gianni Infantino to face a challenger if he seeks another term.
Speaking on “The Rest Is Politics” podcast, Ceferin said he wanted to remain at UEFA and believed his credibility was stronger if he was not seeking Infantino’s position.
Ceferin said Infantino could either step aside if he concluded he lacked sufficient support or contest the FIFA Congress election in March 2027 against another candidate. He said he did not yet know who that challenger might be.
The comments follow a dispute over FIFA’s abandoned plan to create FIFA Forward Enterprise, a company that would have controlled commercial and ticketing rights for FIFA competitions. The proposal included selling a 21% stake to a private investment company.
UEFA opposed the plan, while Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation also joined in criticising Infantino’s leadership. Several national associations later withdrew their support.
Infantino continues to receive backing from South American governing body Conmebol and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Ceferin also criticised FIFA’s handling of recent governance controversies and described the abandoned commercial proposal as more damaging than the failed European Super League project.
