Ceferin plays for time as leagues and top clubs battle over European cups revamp
KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has apparently taken a leaf out of Winston Churchill’s collection of most enduring quotations.
The old Prime Minister is popularly supposed to have said that “jaw, jaw is better than war, war” and this was the theme of Ceferin’s self-justification after the latest moves in the three-handed chess game between the European federation, the continent’s leagues and their clubs over the shape of the Champions League from 2024.
Monday and Tuesday saw a summit organised by the European Leagues grouping in Madrid which prompted belligerent statements from chairman Lars-Christer Olsson and LaLiga president Javier Tebas in response to well-aired proposals from the European Club Association about the shape of things to come.
Aleksander Ceferin . . . meetings, meetings . . .
ECA, led by Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, comprises the 230 clubs who compete regularly in European competition. They have drawn up proposals for a Champions League with a restructured entry and survival system which includes relegation and promotion to the domestic leagues.
This would also involve some matches being inserted into the traditional weekend domestic league programmes.
Rival influences
The significance of the ECA proposals is not only that, like the European Leagues, it has two representatives on the UEFA executive committee but that it has a half-share in the company which runs the Champions League.
From Madrid the action moved to UEFA HQ in Nyon and a meeting between the UEFA executive committee and representatives of the European Leagues.
Later Ceferin delivered his own verdict on the state of play and a need to cool the emotions.
He said: “When the Champions League was last changed in 2016, UEFA was criticised for not holding discussions with its stakeholders. When I became president shortly afterwards, I insisted that any future changes should be subject to consultation and today’s meeting is further evidence of that.
“What is important to remember, is that, despite a lot of talk in the media, no decisions have been made. At the moment we have only ideas and opinions.
“It is also important to recognise that UEFA is the only body that has responsibility to the game across Europe.
“UEFA competitions are the only source of redistribution between big and small countries in a landscape that is polarising, with solidarity payments of €240m from the Champions League being made to clubs right across our 55 member associations. We will use this process to design our competitions to protect and develop European football.
Money map
“Other organisations have very different constituencies and interests to protect. Our aim is to find a solution that reflects the changes in the game, preserves the position of UEFA’s competitions as the most attractive and exciting in the world, while providing significant solidarity funding across European football.
“We will not be deflected from that task and we remain committed to continue dialogue with our stakeholders.”
The next move? A meeting between Ceferin and his senior colleagues and the national associations next week in Budapest coinciding with the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final.
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