At the UEFA congress held in Lisbon, Aleksander Ceferin spoke candidly about the Super League and was re-elected until 2027
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin did not hold back his criticism of the Super League and responded to those who have criticized the Premier League. Ceferin has been in the role since 2016 and will continue in the position until at least 2027 after running for the post unopposed.
During his previous term as UEFA president, Ceferin had to face the challenge of the proposed European Super League, which emerged in April 2021. Although the idea collapsed due to fan protests and withdrawal of several teams, some prominent clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Juventus still back the plan, which recently announced its intention to have an 80-team format.
Ceferin presented a different view of the project when he spoke at the UEFA congress in Lisbon on Wednesday.
Ceferin defends the Premier League
“Those who promote this project are now claiming that they want to save football,” he said.
“It’s a good job nobody has ever died of shame. In the space of a few months, the Super League has turned into a character in Little Red Riding Hood: a wolf disguised as a grandmother, ready to eat you up.
“But nobody’s fooled. Because here we have two opposing world views. We have cynicism over morality. And We have selfishness over solidarity. We have greed over benevolence.
“Self-absorption over openness to others. Self-interest over altruism. Shameful lies over the truth. Heirs over builders. Cartel over meritocracy and democracy. Stock prices over sporting merit. The quest for profit over the quest for trophies.
“It’s a good job nobody has ever died of shame“
“If there is something that we must never forget, and that no one should ever forget, it is this: football is and will always remain the sport of the people.”
Ceferin also defended the Premier League, which has faced a lot of criticism.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas suggested that teams in the Premier League are “financially doped”, with others citing it as the cause for the economic imbalance in European football.
“Jealousy is a bad adviser,” Ceferin said. “Before it was UEFA that took the criticism, now it seems that it is the Premier League that is demonized and should be overthrown.
“The Premier League was created through a system of equality and solidarity between its clubs. Rather than a model to be destroyed, it is a model to be imitated.”
