Uefa boss Aleksander Ceferin sees the transfer activities of the super-rich competition calmly – and comments for the first time on the kiss affair about his vice president Luis Rubiales.
Aleksander Ceferin has ruled out the participation of clubs from Saudi Arabia in the Champions League. “Only European clubs can participate in the Champions League, the Europa League or the Europa Conference League,” the president of the European Football Union (UEFA) told the French sports daily L’Équipe.
Despite the upgrade of the financially strong Saudi league, Ceferin sees no danger for European football. “We had a similar approach from China, which bought players at the end of their careers and offered them big bucks. The result: Chinese football didn’t develop after that and didn’t qualify for the World Cup,” Ceferin explained.
This summer, a number of stars like Neymar or Sadio Mané moved to Saudi Arabia for a lot of money, which Ceferin sees critically: “It’s not the right way, they should work on training players and coaches, but that’s not my problem .”
According to Ceferin, only players at the end of their careers and those who are not ambitious enough are drawn to the desert: “As far as I know, Mbappé and Haaland do not dream of Saudi Arabia,” he said, referring to the superstars Kylian playing in Europe Mbappe and Erling Haaland. “We’ll see what happens, but I don’t think for a second that this could jeopardize our competitions.”
Rubiales’ behavior ‘inappropriate’
Ceferin has now also commented on the kiss scandal surrounding the suspended Spanish football association boss Luis Rubiales. voiced. In an interview, the head of the Continental Confederation told L’Équipe: “Obviously what he did is inappropriate. We all know that. I hope he knows it was inappropriate.” That’s all he wanted to say about the scene that superimposed the title win after the Spaniards won the World Cup.
The Disciplinary Committee of FIFA will decide on this. The world association has already suspended the 46-year-old Rubiales for 90 days and initiated disciplinary proceedings. When asked about Rubiales’ vice-presidency at UEFA, the boss said: “He has been suspended from all functions, everywhere. There is no need to suspend him twice.”
Rubiales kissed on the mouth at the ceremony for world champion player Jennifer Hermoso in Sydney on August 20. He himself said the kiss was mutual. However, Hermoso said after the incident that she “felt the victim of an impulsive, sexist and inappropriate act that I did not consent to.” The Spanish sports court Tad is also dealing with the case at the request of the government in Madrid. The regional associations also called on Rubiales to resign. Čeferin said he was sad that such an event overshadowed the victory of the Spaniards.
Meanwhile, Rubiales’ mother, weakened by a hunger strike, is doing better. The woman was released on Thursday night from the hospital in Motril in the south of the country, to which she was brought on Wednesday, according to Spanish media reports. She left the clinic accompanied by her son. The woman wanted to go on hunger strike to protest against what she believed to be an “inhuman and bloody hunt” for her son. ́(apa/red.)
2023-08-31 17:50:14
#Champions #League #Cancellation #Saudi #clubs
