
During the general assembly of European clubs in Copenhagen, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin strongly criticized Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, comparing him to the naked emperor in Hans Christian Andersen's tale, after the failure of the project to open FIFA to private investors, and raised a possible complaint for unfair management punishable by five years of imprisonment.
AI-generated summary
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is in open conflict with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, particularly over governance reforms and the opening of football to private investors.
The UEFA president once again attacks Gianni Infantino. “Football does not need emperors,” Aleksander Ceferin told the president of FIFA on Tuesday, after the failure of his ultimately aborted project to open the body to private investors.
“Yes, let’s develop, let’s innovate, let’s make our clubs and our competitions even more successful, but let’s never forget that football is bigger than those who run it. We are the guardians, not the owners. No one has the right to sell their future,” declared the head of the European football body during the general assembly of European football clubs (EFC) in Copenhagen.
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“My friends, I think it is time to say: enough is enough…Football does not need emperors,” insisted Aleksander Ceferin, in open war against his Fifa counterpart without ever mentioning his name – absent from the congress and represented by general secretary Mattias Grafström. Ceferin compared Infantino to the emperor in Hans Christian Andersen's tale “The Emperor's New Clothes.”
“His court pretends to believe this story…”
“We all know this story. An emperor is convinced that he wears magnificent clothes, clothes that, according to him, only fools or the unfit could not see,” he said. “His court pretends to believe this story until a child says out loud what everyone can see: the emperor is naked.”
UEFA, whose president leads the anti-Infantino revolt, plans to file a complaint for “unfair management” against the Fifa boss – an offense punishable by five years of imprisonment, which requires demonstrating that he intentionally harmed the interests of Fifa.
“Imagine one of your senior executives is secretly negotiating the sale of one of your crown jewels, and your board, players and fans know nothing about it. Once you learn about it, what would your council do?,” the UEFA leader said in Copenhagen on Tuesday about Gianni Infantino's ultimately aborted project to open the body to private investors.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
UEFA will file a complaint for unfair management against Gianni Infantino before the competent authorities.
Likely · Within weeks
The conflict between UEFA and FIFA will continue to intensify over global football governance reforms.
Likely · Within months

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