Infantino and Ceferin call for agreement to formally end the Super League as a victory for football

FIFA president Gianni Infantino praised the agreement to formally end the divisive Super League project, saying: “Football wins when we unite.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin also called the consensus a victory for football.

Their comments were made on Thursday during the 50th UEFA Congress in Belgium, a day after the end of the Super League was announced by an agreement in principle between Real Madrid and UEFA.

Madrid, the 15-time European champions, and its president Florentino Pérez appeared even more isolated after Barcelona formally withdrew from the Super League.

“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 leader Nasser al-Khelaifi and Pérez on reaching the agreement.

“I would like to ask you to clap your hands for Alexander, for Nasser and for Florentino,” he said. “Because football wins when we unite.”

Infantino was accused in the past of being complicit in the formation of the breakaway plans by Europe’s elite clubs, before belatedly denying collusion with the rebels after months of silence.

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Ceferin said he was ‘very happy’ that Madrid and Barcelona ‘rejoined the family’.

“To be honest, 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 have never lost respect for ourselves and for each other, and we have never lost the love for the game. And let me be even clearer: the only winner of this situation is football, and no one else.»

Ceferin said Al-Khelaifi’s «leadership has played an important role in turning the dialogue into a shared direction of travel, so thank you very much for that.»

Madrid and Barcelona won a ruling by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg against Champions League organizers UEFA more than two years ago, but no new clubs publicly signed up to join the breakout project, which had no clear path forward.

Wednesday’s agreement between Madrid, UEFA and the influential EFC group said principles had been agreed 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 55 member federations.

Madrid led 12 Spanish, Italian and English clubs who challenged UEFA in April 2021 by launching a breakaway Super League, which it hoped would feature 20 teams bvhfgg15.

But 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.

Published on February 12, 2026