Guys, this is heavy. It turns out that Ceferin's empty seat at the 2026 World Cup final was no coincidence. The UEFA president stood up Infantino at the MetLife Stadium and since then it's been an open war without quarter. And now the big part comes: UEFA is studying boycotting the 2027 Women's World Cup (Brazil) and the 2030 World Cup (Spain-Portugal-Morocco) if Infantino continues with his plan to privatize the World Cup.
So, we're talking about Europe, which provided 6 of the 8 quarterfinalists in this World Cup, might not go to the next Cups. Can you imagine a World Cup without France, without Spain, without England, without Germany? That would be a BRUTAL blow for FIFA.
On the other hand, Infantino is rubbing his hands: he has 211 federations and only 55 are European. His master move is to hand out 20 million dollars annually to the poor federations to buy votes. And of course, for countries that handle half the budget, that's a ton of money. The September vote is decided by simple majority... 💸
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Photos: Infantino at various events — Admón. Presidencia de Rusia (CC BY 4.0) · Presidenza della Repubblica (Attribution)
Look, I see it clearly: this is a war of egos between two older men who hate each other. Infantino is coming off a huge success with the 2026 World Cup (48 teams, 12 groups, a massive commercial success) and he's feeling overconfident. Ceferin knows he loses in a numerical vote, so his only silver bullet is to threaten to take away the European teams. But would UEFA really shoot itself in the foot like that? Because without Europe, the World Cups lose all global audience and TV money.
And then there's Infantino's dirty move: handing out 20 million to the poor federations so they vote as he says. That's pure clientelism, but hey, it works. For a federation from a small country, that's double their annual budget.
6 of the 8 quarterfinalists of the 2026 World Cup were European. UEFA's football power is overwhelming, but in votes they are only 55 out of 211. A numerical dictatorship of the small federations.
Now I ask you, because I know there are people here who are very knowledgeable:
Do you think UEFA will really boycott the 2027 and 2030 World Cups?
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I personally think it's a textbook political football move. Ceferin can't afford to let Infantino win this round because then UEFA would be weakened forever. But I also don't believe that the English, Germans, or Spaniards are going to miss a World Cup over a squabble between two presidents.In the end, we're the ones who pay the price, the fans.
What do you think? Is Ceferin right to stand his ground or is Infantino building a more global football scene that screws over the European elite? I'm reading you 👇🔥