BERLIN, Jan. 24 (dpa/EP) –
The president of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, is clear that his organization's investigators did “the right thing” by sanctioning Manchester City from European competitions after discovering that it had breached financial rules, a punishment that, however, was annulled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), while also confessing his concern about security at the Euro Cup in Germany.
UEFA sanctioned the English team in 2020, but months later, the CAS considered that some of the alleged infractions “were not proven”, while others had expired, also reducing the fine imposed to 10 million euros for not cooperating with investigators. .
“We know we were right. We wouldn't decide if we didn't believe we were right,” Ceferin declared in an interview with the 'Daily Telegraph'.
“As a lawyer for 25 years I know that sometimes you win a case that you are sure you are going to lose. And sometimes you lose a case when you are sure… You have to respect the court's decision. I don't want to talk about the case of England, but I trust that the decision of our independent body was correct,” he added.
The case in England to which the leader refers was the decision of the Premier League in February last year to refer City to an independent commission, accused of allegedly having committed more than 100 violations of the competition's financial rules.
On the other hand, the Slovenian leader expressed his concern about security at EURO 2024 in Germany because “the world is going crazy.” “In these crazy times when, on a geopolitical level, the world is going crazy, the biggest concern is security,” he admitted.
The continental event will take place if no one remedies it in the midst of the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas. In this sense, Ceferin has met twice with the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faser, also responsible for Sports, with whom he will meet again in the face of what he described as a geopolitically “completely aggressive situation.”
“My fear is not only the stadiums, because the stadiums, I am sure, will be properly protected, but the fans will be in all the cities and towns,” said the UEFA president, who does not hide that everything could get worse if Ukraine or Israel qualify for the EURO in one of the play-offs. “Let's be optimistic. I still think that everything will go well with the support of the German authorities, who are very determined to help us,” he hoped.