Money does not rule, Ceferin tells Uefa Uefa approves term limits for officials
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin reiterated to Europe's top clubs yesterday that he would never allow the creation of a closed Super League, telling them in a speech that "money does not rule."
He warned the continent's biggest leagues that Uefa would never give in to "blackmail" as he promised to re-design football on the continent over the next five years.
The Slovenian also promised one million euros to each of Uefa's 55 member associations as a "solidarity payment" from Uefa's revenue.
Ceferin was elected last September, shortly after Uefa had announced changes to the flagship Champions League competition which gave more slots to clubs from the bigger leagues and cut the number allocated to the smaller ones.
The changes were implemented after the biggest clubs had discussed forming a breakaway Super League.
European football faces a huge disparity between the top leagues such as England's Premier League and Germany's Bundesliga and the smallest ones, which are plagued by poor revenues, falling attendances and financial difficulties.
Ceferin said Uefa would sit down with the clubs, leagues and players to develop a "strategic vision" for European football over the next five years.
"This five-year plan will not be forced on you, it will not come out of the blue, as may have happened in the past," he told the Uefa Congress.
"It will not be drafted by some anonymous bureaucrat and his paperpushers hidden away on the shores of Lake Geneva."
Ceferin said that Switzerlandbased Uefa should not be afraid of the stakeholders but then issued stark warnings to the clubs and leagues.
"To some clubs I should say...there will be no closed league. It's as simple as that. That is not in line with our values and ideas," he said.
"To some leagues, I will say: we will never give in to the blackmail of those who think they can manipulate small l e ag u e s . . . b e c aus e they think they are all powerful because of the astronomical values they generate."
"We will work together to rectify the imbalances as much as possible — problems and imbalances for which you are also responsible," he added.
"Sharing must not considered a dirty word." — Reuters be EUROPEAN soccer governing body Uefa approved term limits for its top officials, including its president, yesterday and agreed that venues for club competition finals should be chosen by a "transparent" process. Under the changes, the Uefa president and members of the executive committee will be able to serve a maximum of three four-year terms. Previously, there was no limit on how long they could hold office. Uefa's 55 member association unanimously voted for the change at their annual Congress in Helsinki. They also agreed that officials could only be elected to the executive committee if they held an "active office" with their country's Football Association. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said this would ensure that "they are not out of touch with reality but tuned into what is happening on the ground." A third change is that venues for the Champions League and Europa League finals will be selected through what Ceferin described as a "fully objective manner through a transparent bidding procedure". Ceferin added: "Surprising at it may seem, it was not always the case in the past." The changes will be written into the Uefa statutes and will come into effect on July 1. Football confederations have been under pressure to improve governance and transparency after global soccer body Fifa became embroiled in a graft scandal two years ago. Several dozen officials were indicted in the United States while former Fifa president Sepp Blatter and former Uefa president Michel Platini were among those banned by Fifa's own ethics committee. — Reuters.