UEFA prez calls for maintaining open competition amid new Super League reports

Rome, Oct 8: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin called for maintaining open competition in European football on Wednesday following reports over new meetings with the company behind the failed Super League project.
“Europe sets standards in world football,” Ceferin said during a speech at the general assembly of the European Football Clubs – formerly the European Club Association – which represents around 800 teams across the continent.
“And precisely for that reason, we see attempts from outside to reshape the game.” The Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo recently reported that UEFA had met on several occasions with Madrid-based A22-Sports Management – which organized the failed Super League launch – plus Real Madrid and Barcelona.
“Change is part of football’s story. We know this very well. But lasting value comes only from unity, from balance, and from reforms that strengthen everyone, not just a few,” Ceferin said.
“UEFA will never and would never organise a competition for 12 clubs only.”
In 2021 a group of 12 of Europe’s most storied clubs announced plans to create a new league that would have effectively replaced the Champions League.
The controversial plans, which were met with fury from fans and politicians, would have seen 15 top clubs protected from relegation and provided guaranteed entry of teams regardless of their success in national competitions. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2023 that UEFA and FIFA acted contrary to EU competition law by blocking plans for a Super League. (AP)