UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin Rejects Champions League Final in Saudi Arabia and Warns Against Super League – Exclusive Interview

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CL final in Saudi Arabia possible?

Aleksander Ceferin has once again rejected a possible Champions League final in Saudi Arabia or another country outside Europe.

Ceferin cancels Saudi Arabia
© AFP/SID/FRANCK FIFE

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has once again clearly rejected a possible Champions League final in Saudi Arabia or any other country outside Europe. “I heard some people would be very happy if they could get it. But of course that won’t happen,” said the 56-year-old in the English Telegraph.

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The finals of national European competitions are now occasionally played in Saudi Arabia. For example, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona recently faced each other in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Riyadh.

Ceferin is critical of the numerous transfers, some of them prominent players such as the multiple world footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, to the Saudi Arabian league: “They go there because the contracts are big, and I don’t condemn them for that. But to say that they are going somewhere “To help there is more or less a joke.”

Fans “don’t follow to the moon”

Ceferin does not see the transfers having a negative impact on European football. The fans wouldn’t follow the players “to the moon,” he said: “I’m not worried at all because European football has such strong roots. It’s our culture and history. You can’t buy that.”

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Ceferin still wants to prevent a possible Super League of Europe’s top teams at all costs: “I still insist that this never happens because it would ruin football. We won’t allow it,” he said. It is an insult to football “to even talk about it. For me, this story is over.”

In April 2021, twelve top European clubs announced the planned formation of the Super League. After massive criticism from UEFA, other clubs and fans, most clubs initially withdrew from the project. However, the European Court of Justice opened the door to possible competition at the end of December.

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2024-01-25 04:41:10
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