In his speech in the exhibition and congress center of Messe Wien, Ceferin not only emphasized the lack of alternatives to sanctions against Russian players and clubs. In terms of content, the 54-year-old Slovenian also linked the Super League plans of some major clubs, which are currently on hold. “Today, the agendas of some leaders in football and politics rest on some form of nostalgia for past greatness or fear of being overtaken by new forces,” Ceferin said.
The 54-year-old, who spoke at Messe Wien “in a geopolitical context reminiscent of the darkest time in European and human history”, defended the exclusion of Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In this case, football is “undoubtedly the loser. (…) It may be seen as a dangerous precedent, but in this case the matter is bigger than anything,” Ceferin said.
Exclusion from Russia no longer unthinkable
“Bigger than the careers of a few hundred footballers and the tradition of sporting neutrality, which can no longer be maintained in the war in 2022.” An upcoming exclusion of the Russian association RFU is not unthinkable. “I wouldn’t rule anything out, but I wouldn’t say it will happen in the future either,” Ceferin said. Andrei Pawelko was also connected to the congress. The president of the Ukrainian association was standing in front of a bomb crater and was wearing a protective vest when he reported live from a destroyed stadium in Chernihiv. There were always sound problems. “The Ukrainian football community saves lives, saves children’s lives,” the 46-year-old conveyed to the delegates.
Sanctions are still conceivable against those big clubs that pushed ahead with the project of a closed Super League last year. Of course, most clubs quickly withdrew in the face of severe criticism. Only Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin are still officially pursuing the plans, but they have been very quiet lately. “This project is over forever, or at least for the next 20 years,” Ceferin clarified. He had received support from EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas before the start of the congress. “European football must remain open, based on sporting merit and serve the interests of society as a whole, not the profit of a few,” said the Greek in a video message at the start of the congress.
Also offer small clubs a big stage
Ceferin said it’s essential that “the little ones can continue to play against the giants and sometimes make world waves by beating them. That makes football a beautiful game,” said Ceferin. “Leaders in football have to be careful not to bite the hand that feeds them. If their demands go too far, they risk destroying the social contract on which our sport is based.”
He contrasted this with the criticized introduction of the Conference League, which “lives and breathes the football we love and which reminds us of football in the 1980s”. In this regard, however, one must also think about larger final stages, Ceferin admitted. The premiere of the ECL final between AS Roma and Feyenoord Rotterdam will take place on 25 May at Tirana’s National Stadium, which can only seat 22,000 spectators. The 2023 final venue, the Eden Arena in Prague, is similarly sized.
Financially, UEFA is on a solid footing, having posted record revenues in the 2020/21 EURO financial year. According to the financial report approved on Wednesday, 5.7 billion euros flowed into the cash register. In 2019/20 it was around three billion euros, in the year of the EM 2016 around 4.6 billion euros. In front of the representatives of the 55 member countries, Ceferin did not want to commit himself to a renewed candidacy at the congress in April 2023 in Lisbon. He has been in office since 2016 and was confirmed in 2019. He had already announced his readiness for another three years from 2023 – but had not yet announced his candidacy.
Controversial CL reform on track since Tuesday
The most far-reaching decision was made on Tuesday at the Executive Committee meeting. The CL reform decided in 2021 was modified: Two of the four additional starting places go to the two most successful national associations in the previous year. In the original model, they were to be awarded to clubs that had celebrated successes in the European Cup in the past, but not in their league qualified for the Champions League. In addition, the number of group games per team will only increase from six to eight instead of the previously planned ten.
Similar changes will also be introduced in the Europa League (eight games in the league phase) and the Europa Conference League (six games). Of course, how the increased income will be distributed is still to be negotiated. The fears of fan groups that the gap between big and small clubs will continue to grow enormously continue to be huge. “We need to take a little breath and then we’ll start this process,” said UEFA competitions director Giorgio Marchetti.
