UEFA warns Infantino: “Either you withdraw your plans, or we won’t play any more”

It is all well and good that the Peace Prize was presented directly to Donald Trump, and it is also fine that Balogun’s suspension was revoked at the White House’s request. But selling off part of the World Cup to private interests is the red line that Gianni Infantino has crossed, unleashing UEFA’s fierce wrath. FIFA’s move – which would have involved setting up a special-purpose company to maximise profits – has succeeded in uniting the European federations. These are, after all, the wealthiest federations and the ones that run the money-making side of football: a World Cup without Europe would cause sponsors and even spectators to flee, given that only in Infantino’s rhetorical fantasy does anyone dream of a final between Curaçao and Cape Verde.

In any case, UEFA has resorted to the most effective threat: “We will never legitimise this model,” reads a very strongly worded statement. “No one has the moral authority to sell what they hold in trust for the next generation. Following today’s discussion, no UEFA national team will take part in any FIFA competition whilst these proposals remain in place, unless they are abandoned in their entirety and binding guarantees are provided that FIFA will never again open up its governance or competitions to private ownership.” It would be easy to reduce all this to the long-standing feud between Infantino and Aleksandr Ceferin, the UEFA president. It is more than that: it is a clash between two models. On the one hand, there is FIFA’s gigantism, with its World Cups featuring 48 or 64 national teams, club World Cups, half-hour intervals and hydration breaks even in air-conditioned stadiums. On the other, the strength of those who know that it is the Champions League that breaks records for revenue from sponsors and pay-per-view subscriptions. Unless compromises are reached, it will end badly. Infantino reigns because he hands out World Cup places as if they were sweets at a birthday party. Breaking this system is a daunting task. Not least because the other side isn’t exactly populated by angels with trumpets and harps.