Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA president, has given an interview to the Slovenian media 24ur.com in which he analyzes the failure of the European Super League.
Super league: “In my opinion, the Super League has never existed. It was an attempt to create a phantom league of rich people, which would not follow any system, it would not follow the pyramid of football in Europe, traditions, culture, history. And I told them to my delegates in congress, who had come the day before and were worried about what was going to happen with football: Give me 24 hours and this league will cease to exist. “
Failure: “It was a combination of different factors. First of all, it started with our statement, together with the leagues and other clubs, when we strongly opposed the creation of this league. That was on a Sunday afternoon. During the night, they went out with a press release and they announced that they were creating this league. In the morning we had an executive committee, we approved all the changes and then I had a press conference where I gave all the background, as frankly as possible. After that, There was an immediate response from Prime Minister Johnson's office of the United Kingdom, and very quickly from President Macron of France. The biggest contribution, of course, was from the fans, who staged a real revolution and refused to be despised, to to be ignored and to think that they could be bought. “
Conspiracy: “We have been talking to the clubs – but there are 247 clubs in Europe that are members of the Association of European Clubs – about the future of the Champions League after 2024. The one I have spoken with the most is the president of the association of clubs, who have always assured me that they are with us. Every now and then I heard a rumor that something was brewing, but I, perhaps naively, said that I could not believe it: that people talked to my mother every day, that They were really negotiating with us about the future and “they had something behind.” What ended up happening is that on Thursday the executive vice president of Manchester United called me and said: “You have proposed some excellent reforms, I support them a lot and I am glad to see you. let's go vote on this tomorrow. '' On Friday we had a meeting chaired by Andrea Agnelli, as Club Association President at the time, and everyone voted in favor of the changes we had proposed in UEFA. So l the same people who had already signed something else at that time voted in favor of the changes … But then the story is even more complicated. “
Agnelli: “Maybe I was naive, but I always say that it is better to be naive than a liar. I am naive.”
Agnelli's betrayal: (First, you received a call in the morning from someone you don't want to mention, who told you that he had reliable information that on Sunday night they were going to announce the creation of a Super League). “Then I got calls from five of the 12 clubs, all of them apologizing to me, saying they were sorry but they had to sign it. Because if they hadn't, they would have been out of this league and so on. I immediately called Agnelli, who didn't He answered. Then, little by little, I called him on the phone, told him what was wrong, and he said: 'This is rubbish, it's not true, it's all made up.' Then I said okay, if it's made up – why not I'm so naive again – so let's make a press statement and say there's nothing like that. He said, 'Great, you made a joke, let's hear it.' Then I tried to get it back with the draft, and little by little I got it , and he told me that he didn't like the draft at all, that he would change it a bit and give me a call. But he didn't call again and turned the phone off. I was driving to Switzerland at the time and then I got a call from the last of the 12 clubs They had signed. He said, 'Look, I have to sign tomorrow for Either tomorrow or I won't be a part of this. ' I said, 'Okay, let's start the war tomorrow.' If so, tomorrow they will be my enemies. And they said: We would like to be friends, within the Super League. But I said, 'That doesn't exist.' And that's how it started. Sunday night, I think around midnight, one, they announced. Which, again, is interesting: it's European football, and it was announced in the middle of the night. Obviously for the American market. Which is special and has angered some fans even more. “
Angelli's lies: “Yes, sure. I think that if you talk about business, it is not very private. If we talked about where we are going to go on vacation, or what the children do, I would not talk about it publicly. But if someone questions the fate of Europe, which also means the fate of world football, because of its constant falsehoods, that is something very public that must be shared. And I am always ready to confirm it. But of course it is difficult to admit it, and it is probably better. say it is a private matter. “
Underrated: “I don't know, it's possible. Certainly, if someone gets into a project like this, so little proven, they not only underestimate me, but the whole situation. After all, these people are very rich, as well I'm surprised they didn't know what they were getting into. But the fact is, I don't expect anyone in football to underestimate me in the future. “
Harsh statements: “Actually, I find it horrifying that when you are enormously wealthy, the profit means so much to you that no value is applied to you anymore. You can tell falsehoods; you can, without the players, the coaches, anyone, simply take them to another competition. Zvonimir Boban told me: 'I signed for Milan because they wanted to win the Champions League. I wouldn't have signed then if we were creating some ghost leagues that only cater to a certain number of rich people. It's – I don't want to use a term too strong – but I find it absolutely appalling that greed can be so strong that I don't care about the sport we love, about European culture, about European tradition, about fans, and last but not least, about the personal friendships' “.
Boris johnson: “He knows that citizens are actually one of the lower economic classes, they have a hard time living, but they spend their last money to watch football matches, which are their passion, their relaxation, part of the culture of Europe, part of the story. And it seemed like a very logical reaction: he didn't care what happened to football, because of course it would affect citizens. “
Contact Johnson: “We were in contact and today I have also spoken with your cabinet. They reacted perfectly; I must say that I was impressed by their effectiveness. They immediately said that they were at our disposal for anything, that they would make a very strong statement public. And that reaction from the English government it helped a lot. “
Why doesn't Florentino Pérez want it?: “Because he wants a president who obeys him, listens to him and does what he thinks. And I try to do what I think is good for European and world football.”
Florentino does not give in: “It's about football. I can sit next to everyone, and in the matches that we organize, I also establish the seating plan. So I can put someone a little further away from me. The fact is that if any club wants to To play in our competition, he will have to talk to us and we will have to fix the things that have happened now. I don't want to go into details, because we are also discussing this with the legal team. But I would say that it is a very good decision for the English clubs. and we will also take into account that they have admitted their mistake, that they understand that they were wrong … We all make mistakes. “
Disappointment: “Everyone has disappointed me to some extent, but I have to say that maybe Barcelona is the one that disappointed me the least. Laporta was chosen very recently and I spoke to him two or three times. He was under a lot of pressure because of the financial situation the football club was in, and he inherited it; it wasn't his fault that the situation was like this. So obviously he was under a lot of pressure, but at the same time, as a shrewd negotiator, he secured a strategy of exit. Perhaps I would like to say something more than what Pérez said before: the clubs have losses, but also because they are poorly managed. If you overpay the players, the unsuitable players, and therefore do not get a result , that's a loss for you. Bayern Munich, for example, has no casualties and has won the Champions League. So it is not always only covid-19 that many excuse. But the President of the German League also He said: Sad management of the club. “
Bayern and Borussia Dortmund: “I was constantly in contact with Bayern Managing Director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Borussia Dortmund Managing Director Hans-Joachim Watzki, who were very supportive, and PSG President Nasser Al -Khelaifi, who, according to some logic, could have been one of the first to join this Super League story. “
PSG “Because he believes in football and because the Emir believes in football, because he believes that the pyramid should not be broken, because he met his fans, because they work with their fans. He has been a great support and has been with us all the time, without him Rummenigge and Watzke would have been more difficult to succeed. “
Super League preview: “Today I received a very interesting joke from a club in which there is a competition calendar in which only Real and Juventus play every day. We will see what happens next week. We have a meeting tomorrow morning, But if so much has happened in the 24 hours after the congress, I hope many more will happen by Friday. Believe me, whoever says that he is completely calm in this situation is not telling the truth. The situation is very complicated and it is not for UEFA. We have 235 of the 247 clubs on our side … Well, we had them, and now we have 244. They are all with us. Yesterday I received SMS of support from practically all the clubs in Europe. So now we hope that all realize their mistake and suffer the consequences. We will talk about this next week. “
What does it mean for Real Madrid to be able to play in the semifinals?: “The bottom line is that the season has already started, the bottom line is that the televisions would claim us if we don't play the semi-final. Therefore, there is a relatively small chance that the game won't be held next week. But from now on it will be a little different “.
Differences: “I have nowhere to find billions to offer to English clubs. Besides, if I offered them billions, the clubs would not apologize, they would go ahead in another way. They know perfectly well that they have made a mistake, they have called me and I respect him. You have to be great to admit a mistake, and that's why I have more respect for these clubs than for those who insist on something that they say doesn't exist. It's actually relatively ridiculous. “
Open door: “The doors of Uefa are open, but at the same time everyone will have to suffer the consequences of their actions. I think that football is an extraordinary, well, interesting activity. I think that all these clubs are part of Uefa. But, of course, I will never have a personal relationship with certain people again. I can always separate that. “
Failure: “I was sure of myself, and I told my delegates in the congress: within 24 hours, this will no longer exist. But I was sure after the congress, when I started getting calls from the clubs that had withdrawn.”
Convinced: “My situation would not have changed at all if the Super League had taken place. What people do not know is that Uefa redistributes 90% of all its funds to women's football, amateur football and countries where there is not so much money. I simply believed in the power of soccer. In the five years that I have been here, I have realized that enormous power. Soccer can start or stop wars. Soccer can unleash tremendous social movements and I was absolutely convinced that, especially in England, the fans would not give in. And I knew from the reactions of Prime Ministers Johnson and Macron, Prime Minister Orban of Hungary and the European Commission that this would soon be over. “
Continuity: “But it's an even bigger incentive for me to stay.”
Hobby: “The fans are very large, they love their club immensely and if the fans get angry, it is a kind of revolution. And no country can afford it. I find it very responsible for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to side with the fans Not only because of the culture and love of football, but also because it keeps the country in order. “
North American owners: “On the one hand, it's not just about the American owners, but also quite a few European owners. All of them together have underestimated us all. This is typical of people who surround themselves mainly with those who settle them and tell them that they are the best, the most beautiful and the most intelligent. However, it is true that not all the owners of American clubs that are in Europe, and there are many more, have the same opinion. I spoke with the owner of Roma, with the owner from Marseille, who are American billionaires, and they called me and said publicly that they would never join such a league because they respect the fans and the club's tradition. So I think it would be unfair to say that the American owners are different, it is true that their sports system is different, some of them are very knowledgeable and others have discovered it now. “
Conflict: “Young people are very interested in football, that is very clear to me. The fact is that football is a sport, it is a passion, it is a school of life, you can learn from football. Me too. It cannot be considered soccer as a product, you cannot consider players as customers or consumers. You cannot look at how much you have on your account or how many new followers you have on Twitter instead of the result after the game. This has become common with certain Big club owners and they have just lost touch with reality and this reality was shown to them in the UK 24 hours ago or so. “
Press: “A Spanish journalist asked me after the Congress why I did not speak to them. I told them: 'We spoke to them for two years and then they disappeared in the middle of the night. I am not going to look for them in Europe to speak to them. Now Of course, we would all prefer dialogue, and I'm not saying we won't talk. But I think we will have to assess what the situation is for a particular club and then see how everything is resolved. But first of all you have to be at the less about honest to expect a dialogue from the other party. '”
Orban's support: “Orban is a huge soccer fan; he loves and respects soccer. I liked the fact that he supported this as well.”
Back home: “They were very worried about me because they knew the pressure I was under, they knew how much was at stake. So the first thing I did when I got home was to pour myself a double whiskey. To calm me down a little and be able to sleep.”
Loneliness: “The most difficult situation was on Saturday night, when I arrived in Switzerland. When I saw that the people I thought were close to me were lying to me. Then, when you arrive at an apartment where you are alone, where there is no family, and all the thoughts go through your head about what is going to happen to European football, how to maintain it … But when I went to sleep and when I woke up in the morning, I was convinced that we were going to get it. “
Learning: “I learned that money is not everything. That money cannot buy everything, that if capital goes too far, there is a tremendous reaction from people. I learned that even those who you thought were close to you can betray or lie to you . I prefer to be able to look at myself in the mirror, always. But it is very difficult to tell the truth to those who do not have it. “