In a lengthy interview with The Guardian, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin provided an overview of the organization’s changes during his tenure. There was controversy earlier this week when Zvonimir Boban quit his role as UEFA football chief in protest at Ceferin plans, which he dubbed, ‘fatal’. Speaking with the Guardian, Ceferin offered his own thoughts on the situation and his plans for the future of European football:
“”I would say that UEFA, from certain perspectives, has changed for the better. I hope and believe I haven’t changed much as a person. My friends are still my friends, and I’m just very, very tired. If someone had asked me at 20, ‘Do you want to become president of UEFA?’ I would have said, ‘How much do I have to pay?’ Now I’m well paid for this, but there’s also a lot of stress. You are constantly scrutinized, often for stupid things, but you have to adapt.”
“Money, or people who think they can buy everything, have bought practically every sport except football. This is due to our fans, our culture, our history. Football is by far the best European product. The economy may go beyond Europe, but football stays here. We don’t want to oppose change, but we also want to protect it. You can’t just buy a club and do whatever you want, then play in our competitions and pretend everything is fine. We have mechanisms to safeguard the system, and we are trying to do our best.'”
“Boban’s departure? His departure did not cause significant disruptions, not to mention shockwaves, within UEFA or the European football community, even though it was unexpected. We will further discuss the matter when the appropriate time comes, probably after our congress. It doesn’t deserve my comment. People who know both him and me will naturally draw their own conclusions.”
“Re-election? I will inform the media when the time is right. To be honest, I am so tired after all that we have been through in recent years that I am not sure. But if it is not changed, we have no term limits. This is very simple.’
“Superleague? All that A22 does is go around, film themselves, try to give interviews. In the meantime, we govern football. We are building proposals, facing many problems, so lobbying is probably their main job but not ours. This is a non-project, something that will never happen because no one wants it. No court, no police, and no army can force people to accept something so absurd. The story of this so-called Super League is the story of our society: the question of whether money can buy everything. They say they have 20 clubs ready to leave. If tomorrow everyone announced escape plans, would that put UEFA in a negative light after believing they had stopped it? First of all, they have no one. They had 50, 20, 200—these are jokes that don’t interest us. But I insist: we never said they couldn’t play in their own competition. Let them play, but they don’t want to play. They talk about creating something and then are the first to apply to play in our competition. I would ask them not to play in our competition and to start working on their own with any clubs they have. I don’t understand what holds them back.”
