EU and UEFA join forces for ethical football; deal seen as a rebuke to Infantino’s FIFA

Brussels – A renewed alliance between the EU and UEFA in support of fair, inclusive, honest, and ethical sport: it is an initiative with political weight that seems like a rebuke of confidence in Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president who came under fire for behaviour that is anything but ethical or proper. The European Commission and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have signed a cooperation agreement – the fourth of its kind – with the stated aim “to promote and strengthen
the ‘European Sport Model’”. 

The European sports model, the European Commission points out, is based on values such as solidarity, inclusion, fair play and equality, with fair play being the unwritten sporting ethic of playing fairly and honourably. The signing of the agreement comes in the wake of the controversy that has engulfed FIFA—the organisation that includes all the world’s continental federations, including UEFA—following the decision to lift the suspension of a US national team player for the next match under pressure from US President Donald Trump.

The “pardon” shown to the American footballer triggered a backlash against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whom the European Parliament denounced for his opaque and unsportsmanlike conduct. UEFA is said to have identified Arsène Wenger, former Arsenal manager and current Head of Global Football Development at FIFA, as the right person to challenge Infantino for the FIFA presidency on 18 March 2027, the day of the election for the president of world football’s governing body. 

The agreement between the European Union and UEFA fits into this context. With UEFA determined to challenge the outgoing FIFA president in a clear show of criticism and a lack of confidence, the EU’s desire to reaffirm that football is based on sound values leads it to censure Infantino’s actions implicitly.

The Commissioner for Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, insists: “Our collaboration with UEFA aims to safeguard what makes European football special: solidarity, fair play and a sport that remains open to all.”It is on the issue of ‘fair play’ that the divide with Infantino’s FIFA becomes clear.