UEFA president Ceferin once again proving effective in scuppering FIFA & Infantino's plans

[p]Ceferin has previously called himself an "underdog" leader, despite having been at the helm of UEFA since 2016 and pushed through a statute change which will allow him to run for a fourth term next year.[/p][p]One battle the 58-year-old Slovenian appears ready to sit out is as a challenger to Infantino, who is seeking a fourth and final term as FIFA president in Rabat next March.[/p][p]"No," he told Politico last September when asked if he was considering standing for the FIFA presidency.[/p][p]Infantino is under severe pressure for the first time, in part due to UEFA's reaction to his scrapped private investor plan.[/p][embed guid="5515f57e-23d9-4de1-8b57-7118c2d77b6d" url="https://x.com/FIFAcom/status/2085119116768108688" social-type="twitter" /][p]Ceferin would be a crucial ally to any potential challenger to Infantino.[/p][p]UEFA's threat to boycott the World Cup if Infantino pushed through his proposals arguably led to the Swiss's humiliating climbdown in ditching the plan last Saturday.[/p][p]Terrence Burns, who served as brand and marketing strategist for two successful World Cup host bids, believes Ceferin emerged a big winner from the fall-out.[/p][p][b]"Ceferin played it well,"[/b] Burns told AFP.[/p][p][b]"UEFA carried the fight collectively while he issued no personal statement at any point.[/b][/p][p][b]"The boycott threat was aggressive and credible, which is a rare pairing."[/b][/p][p]Ceferin served in the Yugoslav Army in the 1980s, before also being called up by the Slovenian forces during their War of Independence in 1991.[/p][p][b]"Luckily I never had to shoot (anybody)," [/b]he once told ESPN.[/p][p]Ceferin, like Infantino a lawyer by profession, will hope he has picked the right moment for his latest battle.[/p][p][b]"I think you should in professional and private life, choose your battles," [/b]he told Politico last year.[/p][p][b]"You should fight when it's really a reason to fight, but every fight is tiring."[/b][/p][h2]'Pressures and threats'[/h2][p]Last week brought to a head tensions between UEFA and FIFA that had surfaced during the World Cup.[/p][p]Ceferin boycotted the World Cup final last month in protest, largely over the controversy surrounding US striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/balgun-folarin/rVZLmUsU/"]Folarin Balogun[/a]'s red card in their last-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.[/p][p]FIFA stepped in and suspended Balogun's ban, freeing him to play against Belgium in the last 16.[/p][p]The decision led to widespread condemnation, especially when it emerged US President Donald Trump had intervened by calling Infantino.[/p][embed guid="d4db85b0-fca1-4e14-9eb4-953d03385312" url="https://x.com/UEFA/status/2084671669990199761" social-type="twitter" /][p]The successful taking down of the investment plan is not the first time Ceferin and UEFA have played a pivotal role in confronting FIFA under Infantino and have won.[/p][p][b]Their opposition - along with South American confederation CONMEBOL - ultimately forced Infantino in 2021 to scrap the idea of holding the World Cup every two years.[/b][/p][p][b]Ceferin also turned his fire effectively on the European Super League when it was launched in April, 2021. He was so angry about the failed breakaway, he called then-[a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/juventus/C06aJvIB/"]Juventus[/a] chairman Andrea Agnelli "a snake", even though he was godfather to the Italian's daughter.[/b][/p][p]"I didn't sleep, eat or drink for 48 hours, because I had phone calls with governments and royal families... and pressures and threats," he said in 2021.[/p][p]Ceferin and UEFA, despite the quick collapse of the ESL, still felt obliged to reform their showpiece club competition, the Champions League.[/p][p]Ceferin has had bumps in the road during his tenure since first being elected 10 years ago.[/p][p]A UEFA statute change introduced in 2024 did not completely erase the three-term limit for the presidency, but stipulated terms started or served before July 1, 2017 should not be taken into account. That paved the way for Ceferin to seek a fourth term next year, drawing criticism and causing the resignation of Croatian football great Zvonimir Boban as UEFA's chief of football.[/p][p][b]"Ironically, it was the UEFA president himself that proposed and launched a set of reforms in 2017 which were introduced to prevent such a possibility," [/b]said Boban.[/p][p][b]"The reforms were to football's great credit, and that of the UEFA president. His shift away from these values is beyond comprehension."[/b][/p][p]Ceferin's next goal will be to prevent Infantino, who was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023, from winning his own fourth term in charge of FIFA.[/p]