‘The emperor is naked’: Uefa chief Ceferin tears into Infantino as Fifa civil war escalates
Uefa chief launches scathing attack on Fifa leadership
The Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, has launched a scathing attack on his Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino, accusing football's world governing body of selling off the sport's future under the cover of "convenient words".
Speaking at the European Football Clubs (EFC) general assembly in Copenhagen, Ceferin did not name Infantino directly but left no doubt about his target as he tore into the failed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project and a string of recent controversies.
"The emperor is naked"
Drawing on the city of Copenhagen – home of Hans Christian Andersen – Ceferin invoked the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes to describe Infantino's conduct, referencing the peace prize awarded to Donald Trump and last summer's Folarin Balogun affair alongside the FFE scheme.
"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."
A warning to the clubs
Ceferin told the hundreds of club representatives present that Infantino's behaviour would not be tolerated inside their own organisations.
"Imagine one of your senior executives secretly negotiating away control of your club's crown jewels," he said. "You didn't know. Your board didn't know. Your players and fans didn't know. And by the time you find out, the deal is almost done. What would your board do?
"Imagine that he creates a peace prize for a political leader, without his own board having any say over its creation or its recipient. Then, that same political leader calls during the biggest competition in the world to complain about a decision on the pitch. The rules say one thing. The phone rings. Then the decision changes.
"How many times would this have to happen at your club before the board says: 'enough'? I think it is time to say 'enough'. No office, no title and no amount of power gives anyone the right to sell the future of football."
Fifa hits back as war of words intensifies
The war of words between football's two biggest governing bodies had already escalated on Tuesday, when Fifa accused Uefa of waging a "misinformation campaign" and attempting to influence the race for its presidency. Fifa urged a US court to reject Uefa's request to obtain documents for use in a planned criminal complaint against Infantino.
Senior Uefa figures remain adamant that a candidate to oppose Infantino in the Fifa election next March must be identified before the 18 November deadline for nominations.