FIFA President Gianni Infantino welcomed the agreement to formally close the chapter on the divisive Super League project, declaring, “Football wins when we unite.”
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin echoed that sentiment, calling the breakthrough a victory for the game.
They spoke at the UEFA Congress in Belgium on Thursday, a day after an agreement in principle between Real Madrid and UEFA effectively signaled the end of the breakaway plan.
Real Madrid, 15-time European champions, and club president Florentino Perez appeared increasingly isolated after Barcelona officially withdrew from the Super League project.
“Yesterday, we heard the great news about the agreement between UEFA, the EFC (European Football Clubs) and Real Madrid,” Infantino said.
He congratulated Ceferin, EFC chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Perez for reaching the agreement.
“I would like to ask you to clap your hands for Aleksander, for Nasser and for Florentino,” he said. “Because football wins when we unite.”
Infantino was previously accused of being complicit in the formation of the breakaway plans by Europe’s elite clubs before later denying he colluded with the rebels after months of silence.
Ceferin said he was “very happy” that Madrid and Barcelona had “joined the family again.”
“Honestly speaking, we were all tired of these disputes,” he said. “We had some disagreements with the president of Real Madrid but let me be clear: We never lost respect for each other, and we never lost the love for the game. And let me be even clearer: The only winner of this situation is football, nobody else.”
Ceferin said Al-Khelaifi’s “leadership has been instrumental in turning dialogue into a shared direction, so thank you very much for that.”
Madrid and Barcelona won a ruling at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg against Champions League organizer UEFA more than two years ago, but no new clubs publicly came forward to join the breakaway project, which had no clear path forward.
The agreement Wednesday between Madrid, UEFA and the influential EFC group said principles were adopted that “will also serve to resolve their legal disputes.”
It was announced as European football leaders met in Brussels on the eve of UEFA’s annual congress of its 55 member federations.
Madrid had been at the head of 12 Spanish, Italian and English clubs that challenged UEFA in April 2021 by launching a breakaway Super League that hoped to start play with 20 teams.
The project collapsed within 48 hours amid a fierce backlash in England from fans and the government, which threatened legislation to protect the traditional structure of European football.
Amid criticism over high ticket prices for the World Cup in North America, Ceferin vowed to keep football in Europe a “game for the people, not a tool for power.” He said UEFA remains committed to fan-friendly ticketing.
“This will be most visible at Euro 2028,” he said. “Where fair and transparent principles, not pricing algorithms, put supporters first. We will not price out families. We will not turn loyalty into luxury.”
