UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin boycotted Sunday's World Cup final between Argentina and Spain in New York, staging a public protest against FIFA and its leadership. Ceferin's absence from the match, won by Spain, highlighted deteriorating relations between European and world football's governing bodies.
The protest followed FIFA's decision to lift a suspension imposed on United States striker Folarin Balogun after an intervention by US President Donald Trump. Ceferin condemned the move as "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable," asserting that political interference in sporting decisions cannot be tolerated.
Tensions escalated further after FIFA failed to prevent US authorities from denying entry to Somali referee Omar Artan before the tournament. In response, UEFA invited Artan to officiate the Super Cup. UEFA also announced it would broadly freeze ticket prices for Euro 2028 and committed that 40% of tickets would be in the most affordable categories.