UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said that a British bid for the 2030 World Cup would be "strongly supported" and the tournament should not be sold to the country "who wants to pay the most," according to Richard Conway of the BBC. This week, Vivo became the third Chinese company to sponsor FIFA, with a suggestion that "China could bid" for '30. But, with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, that would "go against the governing body's continental rotation policy." Čeferin said that rules "cannot change just because we have some big sponsors." He said, "It's simply time for us [Europe] to host the World Cup in 2030." Asked about China's "commercial grip" on FIFA, Čeferin said, "I didn't want to speak just about China, but the most important thing is that the World Cup should go to the country that has the best bid" (BBC, 6/3). The PA reported Čeferin also addressed the corruption scandal which saw his predecessor, Michel Platini, and former FIFA President Sepp Blatter "suspended from football" for four and six years, respectively. He said, "With those ... let's call them 'FIFA matters,' even UEFA's image was damaged. And it was not our fault. OK, we also had some problems, but it was not to such an extent. But I still think that FIFA is improving. things are changing" (PA, 6/3).
