ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called for respect and dialogue as he expressed the organization’s strong disapproval of the proposed European breakaway league project, and has requested that the concerned parties consider their position in line with respecting the institutions that exist to protect the interest of national, European and global football.
“FIFA is an organization which is built on values, the true values of sport,” said the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) president in his address to the 45th Ordinary UEFA Congress in Montreux, Switzerland. “It is an organization that is built on our statutes, the statutes that define the institutional framework, with the pyramid, with FIFA, the confederations, the associations, the leagues, the clubs, the players. And at FIFA, we can only strongly disapprove the creation of a super league…”
The FIFA president emphasized his full support to the European sports model, a successful model of openness and inclusivity, promotion and relegation, and a model that he promoted in his 16 years at Union of European Football Associations (UEFA): “FIFA is here, and I am here today as FIFA President, to bring full support to European football, to UEFA, and the 55 member associations of UEFA and of FIFA, to the leagues, clubs, players, and to fans.”
“We can see that there is a lot to throw away for the short-term financial gain of some,” Infantino added. “People need to think very carefully, they need to reflect, and they need to assume responsibility. They need to think not only of their shareholders, but they need to think about all the people, of all the fans, of all those who have contributed to make European football what it is today. It goes back not only decades, it goes back more than one hundred years. People — with love, with passion, with commitment — have created all this. And we need to protect this. It is our task.”
“FIFA is a democratic organization, an organization that is open,” the FIFA President concluded. “Everyone can bring ideas and proposals, but always with respect for the institutions, leagues, associations, UEFA and FIFA; with respect for the history and with the respect for the passion of so many people around the world.”
