'Worse Than the Super League': Ceferin Tears Into Infantino Over World Cup Stake Sale Plan

The already frosty relationship between European football's leadership and FIFA has plummeted to new depths after UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin delivered a scathing verdict on Gianni Infantino's controversial bid to sell a stake in the World Cup. In comments that will reverberate through the corridors of world football, Ceferin did not mince his words when assessing the FIFA president's plan, declaring it 'worse than the Super League' — the breakaway competition that triggered unprecedented fan fury and government intervention in 2021. Coming from Ceferin, the comparison is a pointed one. The Slovenian was the figurehead of the resistance that ultimately crushed the Super League project, positioning himself as football's defender against private capital seizing control of the game's most cherished competitions. To now place Infantino's proposal beneath that reviled project in his personal rankings is a remarkable escalation of hostilities between the two most powerful men in the sport. Ceferin went further, suggesting that Infantino — a Swiss national who served as UEFA general secretary before ascending to the FIFA presidency in 2016 — should not forget where he comes from. The remark underscores a growing sense of betrayal within European football's governing body, which feels its former colleague has drifted away from the continent's vision for how the global game should be run. The row centres on Infantino's exploration of selling a slice of the World Cup to outside investors, a move that would mark a seismic shift in how football's crown jewel is financed and controlled. With the expanded 48-team 2026 tournament — co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — promising to be the largest World Cup in history, the commercial stakes have never been higher, and critics fear the precedent such a sale could set. For supporters, the episode carries uncomfortable echoes of the Super League saga, when supporters' protests forced clubs to abandon the project within days. The difference this time is that the threat comes not from rebel clubs, but from within football's own governing structure. With kick-off in North America drawing ever closer, the timing of the feud could hardly be more awkward. What should be a period of unity and celebration ahead of a landmark tournament is instead being overshadowed by a very public war of words between the men responsible for safeguarding the game's future. Whether Infantino responds to Ceferin's broadside remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the battle for the soul of the World Cup is well and truly underway. This article is based on reporting by BBC Sport.