- UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin skipped the entire Club World Cup, including the final in New York
- UEFA objects to FIFA’s scheduling and conduct around the expanded tournament
- Tensions between FIFA, UEFA, and CONMEBOL have escalated over the 2030 World Cup and other disputes
Key Takeaways:
The rift between European governing body UEFA and world football’s leading force FIFA is now fully exposed, as Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin did not attend the final of the Club World Cup in New York.
The UEFA president skipped the entire tournament across the Atlantic, which stands as a major pride project for FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino. With a huge prize fund and plenty of glitzy events, the final between Chelsea and PSG (3:0) resembled something between a WrestleMania spectacle and the Super Bowl.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has snubbed the entirety of the FIFA Club World Cup amid ongoing tensions between the European confederation and the global world governing body, FIFA.
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— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) July 13, 2025
Ceferin had been invited to every match of the tournament, but both his position and UEFA’s are clear. The European body does not support the organisation of such a tournament during the only possible month of rest in the European calendar, nor does it agree with Infantino’s overall conduct. That is why the seat reserved for the Slovenian remained empty on Sunday night.
The official explanation from UEFA was that the president’s priority is the ongoing Women’s Euro 2025 in Switzerland. However, checks show Ceferin has attended just one of the 24 group stage matches played so far.
Tensions have been brewing for some time, but they erupted most visibly in May during the FIFA congress in Paraguay. A UEFA delegation walked out once it became clear Infantino would be several hours late due to “urgent meetings” with Donald Trump.
Ceferin and his team never returned that afternoon in Asuncion and made no contact with the FIFA president. The scandal was later “smoothed over” by Infantino, who claimed that at the time, the tournament and the details surrounding it were simply too important.
Meanwhile, CONMEBOL has been furious with Infantino ever since they realised that the promise for the 2030 World Cup to be held entirely on their continent (Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil), in honour of the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup in Uruguay, would not be fulfilled. Instead, the tournament was moved to Europe and Morocco, with just one match each planned for Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Thus, the two most powerful continental organisations remain in a poorly disguised conflict with FIFA, and current trends indicate that the situation is only getting worse.