UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin says he will not run against FIFA President Gianni Infantino, but he warned the beleaguered head of world soccer that he should either quit or face a leadership challenge in March.
Infantino has come under increasing pressure to step down over his now aborted plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors. Three of the sport's continental confederations accused him of "deception," and European soccer body UEFA threatened a boycott of FIFA competitions.
Ceferin made his comments in an interview with the British podcast "The Rest is Politics: Leading," which is set to be broadcast Monday. He said: "One option is that he realizes that he doesn’t have the support, and that’s not only a political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches."
He added: "And the second option is that he goes to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don’t know yet who."
Excerpts from the podcast were published in British media on Sunday.
Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 and, until the backlash over his proposals, seemed sure to be reelected unopposed next year in Morocco. FIFA has set a Nov. 18 deadline for challengers to nominate.
Despite being widely seen as a potential challenger, the 58-year-old Ceferin expressed his commitment to UEFA. He told the podcast: "I’m not interested because of two reasons. One reason is that I love UEFA and I love working here, and I think that at a certain point … it’s time to also enjoy life a bit."
"And the second point is, my credibility is much, much higher if I’m not interested in the position."
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Source: www.independent.co.uk — Read the original article
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