UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has vigorously condemned as “disgraceful” proposals for a new European Super League as a “spit in the face of all football lovers“.
European football’s governor in chief also confirmed that any players who feature in the European Super League will be banned from the World Cup and European Championships, with bans for the latter competition being sought “as soon as possible“.
“UEFA and the football world stand united against disgraceful and self-serving proposal we have seen in the last 24 hours for a select few clubs in Europe motivated by greed. We are all united against this nonsense of a project,” Ceferin said.
Ceferin in a zoom call today said “We will take all the sanctions that we can and we will inform you as soon as we have a clear answer. My opinion is that, as soon as possible, the players have to be banned from all our competitions.
He added: “I cannot stress more strongly UEFA and the footballing world are united against the disgraceful, self-serving proposals we have seen, fuelled purely by greed.
“It’s a nonsense of a project. This idea is a spit in the face for all footballer lovers and our society. We will not allow them to take this away from us.”
Ceferin said he was “naive, there are snakes close to us” over the Super League proposals.
He strongly criticised Manchester United executive vice-chair Ed Woodward, who has stepped down from his roles with UEFA alongside his club’s withdrawal from the European Club Association.
Ceferin said: “I was a criminal lawyer for 24 years but I’ve never, ever, seen people like that. If I start with Ed Woodward but he called me last Thursday, saying that he’s very satisfied with reforms and he fully supports them. Obviously he already signed something else.”
When asked if the Champions League could proceed without the 12 clubs signed up to the European Super League plans, Ceferin said: “Yes, of course. In Europe there are many good clubs. We will do it with or without them.”
