ALL CREDIT TO UEFA FOR ITS POWERFUL SHOT ON TARGET

It always feels rather negative to hold up a piece of content – artificial intelligence-generated or otherwise –  as an example of how it should NOT be done. A bit mean of spirit, a little like shooting fish in a barrel of AI slop.

This week, however, has granted an opportunity to highlight what a massive difference it makes when something is written really, really well. For that we have to thank the world of sport, and particularly football.

We’re supposed to be taking a break from football. Those people who remain impervious to the grand old game’s charms are meant to be savouring the brief hiatus between the World Cup and the start of the English league season.

However, football has dominated the headlines in this, the last week of July, thanks to the antics of the man who runs the world game, FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Infantino’s appalling own goal

He stretched his credibility during the recent World Cup through innovations like the hydration break – blatantly created to allow more TV ad breaks – and thanks to the fan-unfriendly ticket pricing.

The sense that money matters more to the most powerful man in football than football itself became even stronger when it was revealed that Infantino was launching a plan to sell off a percentage of the World Cup, and other tournaments like it, to private investors.

Without getting too heavily into the nuts and bolts of it, this is an utterly terrible idea, which put Infantino instantly at odds with fans and administrators around the world. Not least UEFA, which oversees football in Europe.

Now, I’ve not always been the biggest fan of UEFA. There has occasionally been the sense that our continent’s governing body had too sharp an eye for a good commercial opportunity, along with a feeling that certain clubs and nations get the fuzzy end of the lollipop compared to others.

But UEFA, faced with this blatantly appalling plan from Infantino, played a blinder. Its president, Aleksander Ceferin, recognised the need to stand firm and do the right thing,

He consulted his members, the 55 national associations who make up UEFA, and his organisation delivered a beautiful, brilliant broadside. It wasn’t so much a shot across the bows as a direct hit that holed Infantino’s plan below the waterline.

And what caught my eye was how wonderfully written it was.

Crunching tackle from Team Ceferin

UEFA’s statement didn’t use corporate jargon. It spoke in plain, simple prose.

It conveyed immense power and authority – and, crucially, emotion. By the time you reached its conclusion, you were in no doubt how fiercely UEFA opposed the idea of selling off the World Cup.

There were straightforward, uncompromising sentences. “This model has no place in world football.” “We will never lend this model our legitimacy.” “Some things are too important to sell.”

UEFA’s message was delivered with impact backed up by authority: “UEFA and its national associations will oppose these plans with absolute determination.”

And the clarity! “No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive.”

If this message had been a team in a football match, at the final whistle it would have been given a standing ovation and cheered to the rafters.

Now, I don’t know for sure that AI played no part in the creation of this magnificent snub to the man at the very summit of the world game. But I would be astounded if it had been created, or even revised, by a soulless engine. There was simply too much passion in it, too much humanity.  

Even though it was a statement on behalf of an organisation rather than an individual, it spoke with a clear, powerful and authentic voice. It spoke for UEFA’s leaders, for its members and, crucially, for tens of millions of football fans. 

It’s all about hitting the mark with clarity and confidence

Ceferin is a smart operator, and a deft politician. He knew the value of this opportunity to leverage worldwide opposition to Infantino’s plan. By speaking up first, before the other confederations, and by expressing that opposition in such uncompromising terms, he and UEFA have positioned themselves to take over effective control of the world game.

And why not? Europe is, after all, where all the best clubs and players ply their trade.

It was a good week for the old school. No one should ever forget that the story of FIFA’s plan to sell off the World Cup was broken by the excellent Martyn Ziegler of The Times with a piece of great old-fashioned journalism.

Those of us, meanwhile, who insist that great communication adds value both in terms of commercial appeal and authoritative status, have had compelling evidence to back up our argument.

When you want your voice heard with clarity and confidence, get in touch. Together, we’ll make sure your content hits the back of the net.