UEFA President Aleksander CeferinGETTY IMAGES
Aleksander Ceferin was re-elected unopposed on Thursday as president of UEFA, according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. He promised an "overhaul of club competitions" but reaffirmed there would be "no Super League on his watch." Voted in during the annual UEFA Congress at a luxury hotel in Rome, Ceferin said that the new-look tournaments, to be introduced from '24, would bring a "new dimension" to European football. Without "giving details of how they would work, he did stress that they would be open to all clubs" and that teams would qualify via results rather than by invitation. Ceferin: "We will work hand-in-hand with our partner, the European Club Association, to design the club competitions of the future." Before the confirmation of his second term, Ceferin recalled that ahead of his '16 election, there were "reports Europe’s top clubs planned a breakaway league, yet that had been averted" through "honest, direct and uncompromising" talks with clubs (REUTERS, 2/7).
A CLEAR MESSAGE: The AP's Graham Dunbar reported Ceferin's keynote speech "sent clear messages" to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was sitting in the front row watching his "toughest opponent" in football politics. Ceferin: "It is often the 'yes men' who lure leaders to their demise. And conversely, it is often those who disagree in a measured, reasonable and constructive way, even if they sometimes do so in a direct, uncompromising fashion, who do them the greatest service." Infantino has promoted the "secretive offer" from private investors, widely reported to be fronted by Japan's SoftBank, to revamp the Club World Cup and create a global Nations League tournament (AP, 2/7).
'PROPER CONSULTATION PROCESS': REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported UEFA is "still waiting for more details on FIFA's ambitious plans" for two new int'l competitions, "nearly one year after they were first aired." Ceferin said that he expected a "proper consultation process" before UEFA would "drop its opposition." Infantino, meanwhile, said that a task force set up to look at possible formats for the competitions "may not complete its report by March as originally scheduled." UEFA's opposition "forced FIFA to set up a task force to look at possible formats and present its findings at the next FIFA Council in Miami in March." Ceferin: "I don't know what competitions there will be in two years, four years, 10 years, but we didn't get any more information than we had in Bogotá in March" (REUTERS, 2/7).
