There were several contentious topics on the table as UEFA’s annual congress took place in Brussels on Thursday.
European football’s governing body was meeting amid calls for a boycott of this summer’s World Cup, which will mainly be held in the US.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino also caused controversy last week by calling for Russia’s ban from international football to be lifted in an interview with Sky News.
Infantino himself was one of the first speakers to address Thursday's congress, and steered clear of any direct reference to his comments on Russia. “Sometimes, in football and in life, we focus too much on the negatives,” he said.
“We all know that we live in a divided and aggressive world. We know that there are many matters we don’t agree on, but there are many that we do agree on. One of them is football.”
Infantino, who controversially awarded the newly-created ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ to Donald Trump in December, insisted that the World Cup across the pond would be a success. “It will be celebration,” the 55-year-old concluded. “It will unite the world in peace and happiness. Europe’s contribution will be fundamental.”
Former Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko was also in attendance, in his capacity as president of the country’s FA, and was reportedly seeking to meet with the FIFA president over his comments.
All of Russia's national teams have been suspended by UEFA since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It briefly allowed Under-17 teams to return in September 2023 before going back on its decision a few weeks later. Officially, Russia's FA is 'suspended until further notice'.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin was asked about Infantino’s recent comments in a press conference after the end of Thursday's congress. “I think this story became big for no special reason,” he responded. “He said we should look into it — of course, we should look into everything.” Infantino's comments to Sky News explicitly called for the ban to be overturned.
“I don’t want to enter into disputes”, Čeferin continued. “I don’t think that anyone giving their opinion should be insulted. UEFA’s position is clear and has not changed, but we are looking into everything.”
“The world is changing so fast and it’s hard to follow. Let’s see what the future brings, I can’t comment on what FIFA or any government is doing.”
UEFA chief criticises "weaponisation" of football
During his speech earlier in the morning, Čeferin railed against what he sees as a “weaponisation” of European football. Without mentioning specific examples, he explained that UEFA's role was to ensure that football on the continent would "stay out of political battles it did not create".
"When governments block matches for reasons that have nothing to do with the game, FAs and clubs become hostages of decisions they did not take."
The Slovenian lawyer an agreement signed with Real Madrid this week which brought an end to the breakaway European Super League project. “We are happy that they have rejoined the family,” he boasted. “We had disagreements with [Real Madrid president] Florentino Pérez but we never lost respect for each other and our love of the game."
Glenn Micallef, the European Commissioner in charge of sports, also spoke at the start of the congress. Having criticised Infantino's comments last week, he again made reference to "disagreements" with the FIFA president.
He also reiterated his stance against European league games being played abroad. "Football is a public good, and it must be governed by bodies acting in the public interest," Micallef insisted. "It must be about more than profits and shareholder value. Domestic matches belong to their domestic communities."
