UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin did not attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Argentina and Spain in protest against FIFA.

Although Ceferin travelled to Mexico City for the tournament’s opening match between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa, he opted not to attend the final in New Jersey following a series of disagreements with world football’s governing body.

One of the main reasons behind his decision was FIFA’s controversial move to overturn Folarin Balogun’s suspension after intervention from United States President Donald Trump.

UEFA strongly criticised the decision at the time, describing it as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.

“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,” UEFA said in a statement.

Ceferin is also opposed to several other initiatives introduced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, including the introduction of half-time entertainment shows.

UEFA rejects half-time shows

The World Cup final featured performances from Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber, extending the traditional 15-minute interval to more than 27 minutes.

UEFA has no plans to introduce similar shows at the Champions League or European Championship.

The governing body also remains firmly against proposals to expand the World Cup to 64 teams, an idea Infantino suggested could be explored during the tournament.

Elsewhere, UEFA responded after Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the United States before the World Cup by appointing him to officiate the UEFA Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa on August 12.

Ticket pricing has also been a point of disagreement. UEFA intends to broadly freeze prices for Euro 2028, allowing supporters to buy five match tickets for roughly the cost of a single parking space at a World Cup venue in the United States.