Ceferin insists UEFA is keeping all options open on future of Champions League
KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin repeated that he and the European federation were still considering all the proposals and options being fired at him with increasing noise over the future of the club competitions and, in particular, the Champions League.
Ceferin was speaking after meeting presidents and general secretaries of UEFA’s 55 national associations in Budapest at which he also presented a much-vaunted new strategy for women’s football.
Aleksander Ceferin . . . balancing act
The meeeting followed a clash between Europe’s leagues – which mostly want to maintain the status quo – and leading clubs, as represented by the European Club Association, who want an expanded Champions League with promotion and relegation and a fixtures schedules which spills over into domestic weekend schedules.
Ceferin, whose concern is to keep the clubs onside while using their promotional pull to generate more money for the European game in general, said: “This was an important meeting with our member associations to get their views on how our club competitions should be designed in the future. There were many different opinions expressed and we will feed these into our thinking on this issue.
“I was encouraged by the positive response to the consultation process and by the solidarity among associations, with a recognition from the larger ones of the need to contribute more for the benefit of smaller nations.
“We remain focused on trying to find a way forward that meets the needs of the game across the whole of Europe not just in the big markets. Only UEFA distributes money across international boundaries and it is a responsibility we take very seriously.
“I was happy to repeat our commitment not to play UEFA club competition matches at weekends, with the exception of the Champions League Final.
“The consultation process is ongoing and we look forward to receiving the thoughts of other stakeholders directly, rather than having to piece them together from media statements. We will not decide anything without taking everyone’s views into account. We would never accept changes that would harm European football.
“The new UEFA strategy for women’s football was well received and tomorrow’s Champions League final is a sell-out – further demonstrating the growth and popularity of the women’s game.”
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