football
UEFA boss: No Champions League final in Saudi Arabia
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin during a panel discussion at the SpoBis industry conference. photo
© Christian Charisius/dpa
Saudi Arabia attracts European leagues and top footballers to the country. A Champions League final is out of the question for UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin.
There will be a Champions League final in Saudi Arabia UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin did not give it.
“Not during my term of office,” assured the head of the European Football Union at the Spobis sports business congress in Hamburg. “But I won’t be here forever.” The Spanish and Italian leagues recently held their Supercup finals in the country.
Saudi Arabia has invested billions of euros in football in recent years. Among other things, numerous superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo were lured into the league with exorbitant sums of money, and the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund took over the majority of the shares in the Premier League club Newcastle United. The 2034 World Cup is expected to be awarded to Saudi Arabia.
Ceferin does not see the involvement of the Arab superpower as a threat to European football. “It’s okay,” said the Slovenian. He thinks the approach of buying superstars is wrong anyway. “If you mainly buy players who can no longer play in Europe and overpay them, are you developing your young players?” said the 56-year-old, recalling the development in China a few years ago.
He described the difference to the football culture in Europe. “European fans do two things: they follow their clubs and their national teams. And they follow the competition,” he said. “They don’t follow the players.”