The Uefa president told European club chiefs in Copenhagen it is "time to say enough" over Fifa's shelved plan to sell off World Cup commercial rights.
Aleksander Ceferin has delivered his sharpest attack yet on Fifa president Gianni Infantino, telling European club chiefs in Copenhagen that "the emperor is naked" and that "it is time to say enough".
The Uefa president never once named his Fifa counterpart during his address to the European Football Clubs (EFC) general assembly on Tuesday. He did not need to. Drawing on Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes, the fairytale born in the very city he was standing in, Ceferin made clear he believes Fifa's leadership has to change.
"An emperor is persuaded that he is wearing magnificent clothes, clothes which he is told only the foolish or unfit cannot see," he said. "His court goes along with it. Until a child simply says aloud what everyone can see: the emperor is naked. Perhaps the moral of the story is this: convenient words cannot change uncomfortable realities."
The attack centred on Fifa Forward Enterprise, Infantino's shelved plan to create a commercial subsidiary holding the rights to the men's and women's World Cup and the Club World Cup, which would have let private investors buy up to 20% of the entity. Fifa abandoned the idea in late August after fierce opposition, including a Uefa threat to boycott Fifa tournaments.
Selling part of football's future does not become development because you call it development. Putting a fait accompli in front of national associations does not become democratisation because you call it democratisation, however big the cheque is. And secrecy does not become consultation because you call it consultation.
Ceferin also made pointed references to the peace prize Fifa created for Donald Trump and to last summer's Folarin Balogun affair, describing a scenario in which a political leader phoned during the biggest competition in the world to complain about a decision on the pitch.
He asked club executives to imagine one of their own senior officials "secretly negotiating away control of your club's crown jewels", with the board, players and fans kept in the dark until the deal was almost done.
"How many times would this have to happen at your club before the board says enough?" he asked. "I think it is time to say enough. No office, no title and no amount of power gives anyone the right to sell the future of football."
The speech landed with Fifa and Uefa already at war. Fifa has accused Uefa of running a "misinformation campaign" and of trying to influence the Fifa presidential election, set for March in Rabat, Morocco, with nominations closing on 18 November.
But Uefa's obvious alternative appears to be off the table. Nasser al-Khelaifi, the Paris Saint-Germain president and EFC chair long floated as a challenger, ruled himself out in Copenhagen. "I have zero interest in Fifa, zero agenda or ambition to be there," he said.
Infantino did not attend the assembly, though Fifa general secretary Mattias Grafstrom was in the room.
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