In a direct appeal to the owners of the English clubs in the Super League project, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin urged them to change their minds out of respect for football fans.
Ceferin both cajoled and criticised the six-club English group - made up of American billionaires, Middle East royalty and a Russian oligarch - less than 48 hours after the Super League was launched in alliance with three clubs from each of Italy and Spain.
Ceferin urged them to turn back out of respect for fans in England, aiming another barb at what he earlier called “a few selfish people.”
“Come to your senses," he said. "Not out of love for football because I imagine some of you don’t have much of that.”
Ceferin also lavished praise on UEFA executive committee colleague Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of French champion Paris Saint-Germain. PSG has so far resisted offers to be one of the 15 founding Super League members. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have also stayed out.
Ceferin said fans and governments have supported UEFA in resisting the proposed 20-team Super League, which threatens to directly challenge the Champions League and damage the historic pyramid structure of European soccer.
#UEFA #ESL #EuropeanSuperLeague
0:00 SOUNDBITE (English): Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president:
"To the English clubs, mainly, come to your senses, not out of love for football, because I imagine some of you don't have much of that. But out of respect for those who bleed themselves dry so that they can go to the stadium to support their team and want the dream to be kept alive for those you change your mind, do it out of respect for the English people, for the home of football."
0:30 SOUNDBITE (English): Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president:
(Ceferin addresses the owners of some English clubs)
"Gentlemen, you made a huge mistake. Some will say it is greed, others disdain, arrogance, flippancy or complete ignorance of England's football culture. But actually, it doesn't matter. What matters is that there is still time to change your mind. Everyone makes mistakes. English fans deserve to have you correct your mistake. They deserve respect."
1:08 SOUNDBITE (English): Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president:
(on the overwhelming support UEFA have in it's fight against the introduction of a European Super League)
"Not only football community or football family or the governments are with us, all the fans are with us, all the media with us. Only some greedy people, a few are on the other side. Are we allowing them to take football? No, no. You can trust me. We will not allow them to do that."
1:34 SOUNDBITE (English): Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president:
(on big club owners trying to privatise football)
"Those clubs. Who think they are big and untouchable now should remember where they come from and they should realise that if they are European giants today, it is partly thanks to UEFA, which over 60 years has been protecting the ideal of competitions assessed purely on the basis of sporting merit. Without UEFA, who knows where they would be? It seems that a tiny handful of club bosses have been trying to profit from the situation in which we have found ourselves of late in order to impose their demands and get their hands on the heritage of ours. They have been trying to privatise football. One of society's last remaining collective assets, last collective assets of the society. Someone wants to privatise it."
2:41 SOUNDBITE (English): Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president:
(on how football in Europe is dynamic as some big clubs today were not in the past)
"The big clubs today were not necessarily big clubs in the past, and there is no guarantee that they will be big clubs in the future. Football is dynamic and football is unpredictable. This is what makes it such a beautiful game. This is what makes it so popular and so successful. This is why we are here today. Where were Manchester United in the decade before Sir Alex Ferguson arrived on the scene. Do you remember? I'm sure you do. And where were Juventus 15 years ago? As much as I know, they were in Serie B. If the clubs that dominated European football 30 or 40 years ago had decided to form a Super League, what would it have looked like? We would have Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Hamburg, Steaua Bucharest, Porto, PSV and Red Star."
SOURCE: UEFA
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5 окт 2024
