February 25 – UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin reckons that 99% of people are now satisfied with the Champions League but says there is no discussion about taking the final of the competition to the US, despite the new partnership with new US-based marketing agency Relevent.
In a wide-ranging interview with Slovenian national newspaper Delo, Čeferin said that while football is a beacon of economic stability in Europe, the continent is “losing out in every way, suffocated by drastic regulation” and that it needs to unite, open up, and stop regulating everything.“We preach to others how they should behave, but we have a problem doing exactly that ourselves,” said Čeferin.
With the world’s geo-politics in flux, the changes to the Champions League have been an unequivocal international success.
“The competition is even more unpredictable than before, nobody knew until the very last moment whether they would qualify. It’s a perfect success, and the Champions League ratings are excellent,” said Čeferin.
“All three competitions — including the Europa and Conference League — are successful. The sponsors are delighted that smaller teams have the opportunity to participate. Now they would all like to be on board and invest even more in the UEFA competitions, and that also applies to the TV and other broadcasters who have secured coverage of the matches.”
As to rumours that Relevent wanted to move the finals to another continent, Čeferin is dismissive of the media reports.
“I probably would have known if we had negotiated it. And if I were not allowed to tell you, I would say I am not allowed to tell you, but I can say that they have not spoken a word about it,” he said.
On the other major issues facing football and player welfare, Čeferin agrees that the schedule is full with no room for new competitions but points out that “it’s mainly the well-paid players who are complaining”.
He makes the point that it is complex. Clubs need more matches to pay players and coaches and keep their businesses sustainable.
“The situation is complex: clubs need more matches to pay players and coaches. If there were fewer matches, then their business would not be sustainable,” he argues.
The key determinant of sustainability is keeping player wages under control. UEFA has capped the percentage of revenue that a club can spend on players’ salaries at 70% but there is pressure from many clubs to increase that to 80% and that may have to change. Having spoken to the EU, Čeferin said “a hard salary cap would probably not be possible.”
“Clubs should acknowledge that they need more matches if they want to pay players. Some national leagues have two cups. Are they willing to have fewer teams in the league, or one less cup? Are players willing to take a pay cut? … They say that UEFA and FIFA are just taking money, but UEFA puts 97% of its revenue back into football.”
Has Europe lost political direction while football has become the moralists platform?
Čeferin is unequivocal about what he sees Europe’s political inertia and indecisiveness when it comes to creating a clear strategy. It is a culture that is leaving Europe behind in the global political decision making process.
“European Union representatives have argued for some time that they will not discuss an end to the war in Ukraine with Russia. Now we are in a situation where the US is talking to Russia and the same European politicians are wondering why they talk without consulting them,” he said.
“They should understand that there are bigger interests at stake, and they should act not for their own egos and personal grievances, but for the interests of our or any other country, or for the European Union. Their preaching to the rest of the world about how Europe is the best bothers me. Migrants in Europe are in a less than ideal situation, their human rights are not optimal, but we are lecturing the whole world about democracy…”
In football that lecturing has manifested itself across a range of human rights issues that Ceferin argues have often been over-blown or out of context.
“In Qatar, for example, the World Cup has changed many things for the better. However, this is certainly a typical example of the lecturing of European political populists, who do not recognise different cultures, different religions, talk about non-discrimination, nor understand that different people have different customs in different environments,” he said.
“…Qatar, a country with the same population size as Slovenia, negotiated a ceasefire with the US between Israel and the Palestinians. But no one gives them credit for that. There is a predominance of negative energy.”
It is unusual for the UEFA president to step outside the football bubble and talk about mainstream European politics, the economy and global geo-politics. Unlike the FIFA president Gianni Infantino who appears to be every hard line leader’s favourite cocktail party guest, Čeferin comes with opinion which until now he has generally kept to himself.
On Europe’s commercial proposition he compares Europe’s regulation that demands that the bottle cap must be fastened, with the Chinese and Americans who have been investing in technology and driving their economies.
On political philosophy he sees the world in a position that threatens stability for everyone in every sector.
“Since before the Second World War, it has never been as dangerous as it is now. On the one hand we have bullies as leaders, and on the other hand we have politicians who do not make any decisions, who only care about public opinion, and who are, in fact, incompetent… We have reached a situation where some major countries can take parts of other’s territory and publicly discuss what they will take and who they will attack. That’s dangerous,” he said.
“I don’t know whether European leaders, who are dealing with bottle caps, realize how dangerous the situation is and how urgently they should calmly talk to each other about everything in the interests of the European Union. They are there to protect the EU’s citizens, not to serve their own interests. Europe still has the advantage of being a cultural centre that everyone wants to visit. Unfortunately, we are no longer economically competitive.”
To see the full interview in Delo, click here. https://www.delo.si/english/exclusive-interview-aleksander-ceferin-uefa-president-freedom-of-speech-politics
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