Paris (France) (AFP) – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says one of his mantras is to "choose your battles", but European football's governing body is now locked in a bitter fight with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino.
Issued on: 06/08/2026 - 15:32
3 min Reading time
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.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."No," he told Politico last September when asked if he was considering standing for the FIFA presidency.Infantino is under severe pressure for the first time, in part due to UEFA's reaction to his scrapped private investor plan.Ceferin would be a crucial ally to any potential challenger to Infantino.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.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."Ceferin played it well," Burns told AFP."UEFA carried the fight collectively while he issued no personal statement at any point."The boycott threat was aggressive and credible, which is a rare pairing."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."Luckily I never had to shoot (anybody)," he once told ESPN.Ceferin, like Infantino a lawyer by profession, will hope he has picked the right moment for his latest battle."I think you should in professional and private life, choose your battles," he told Politico last year."You should fight when it's really a reason to fight, but every fight is tiring."'Pressures and threats'
