Various representatives of all levels of Greek football and even the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, showed their rejection of the proposal to create a semi-closed Super League by 12 European clubs, among which there is no Hellenic team. Turkey is also against it.
“The possibility of the unexpected is what makes football exciting,” the Hellenic Prime Minister said on his Twitter, arguing that the “proposal of these rich clubs” eliminates the tradition in the sport and is a “mistake that people do not will accept “.
Meeting with Aleksander Ceferin
Hellenic Football Federation President Teodoros Zagorakis also showed his rejection of this new format at a press conference after meeting UEFA President Alexander Ceferin in Switzerland.
“Under no circumstances should we allow these few, who envision a closed League, to break all ties with the national federations and strangle the national leagues that in turn finance amateur football,” said the president of the Federation.
Zagorakis recalled that the responsibility for European football rests with the federations and that this Super League “would distort the competition.”
“Soccer continues to be the sport that has to do with young children, with amateur sports,” he concluded.
Pedro Martins: “He will eliminate soccer as a popular sport”
As for the players and coaches of the Greek Super League, Olympiacos coach Pedro Martins, recent champion of the Hellenic League, pointed out that this new competition “will eliminate soccer as a popular sport” from small countries and poor teams.
“Money cannot be the most important thing in this beautiful sport,” lamented Martins, who affirms that this situation has been coming for years.
He also positioned himself against the Hellenic Secretary General for Sports, Yorgos Mavrotás, for whom the Super League project goes against the European sports model defended by UEFA and the International Olympic Committee.
Turkey supports UEFA
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) on Tuesday showed its opposition to the creation of the European Super League and warned that it will follow the rulings that UEFA applies to Turkish clubs that decide to participate in the competition.
“No Turkish team can join the new European Super League. If one of them participates, we will support the decision made by UEFA on that team, “TFF President Nihat Özdemir told FoxTV.
“We are against the Super League project. Our Sports Minister has already declared it forcefully ”, Özdemir explained.
The Turkish Sports Minister, Mehmet Kasapoglu, declared yesterday that the format proposed by the Super League, with fifteen permanent teams, contradicts the concept of “participation, a value of all sports organizations”.
The Turkish Football Federation positioned itself yesterday alongside FIFA and UEFA, statements that it considers to be “umbrella institutions” of Turkish football, and thanked the Union of Clubs of the Turkish Super League for also opposing the project.
–
