UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin regards Portugal’s and Spain’s joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup as “a winning bid” and has promised the agency will do everything it can to help.
“I see this as a winning offer. We will do what we can to help with this offer. It is time for Europe to host the World Cup. Both countries smell of football. We have some plans to help and we have already spoken with Fernando Gomes and with Luis Rubiales. I am sure that in 2030 we will have the World Cup in Spain and Portugal,” he said in his speech to the Football Talks forum, via videoconference.
In the forum organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), the UEFA official spoke about the density of the calendar of football competitions, as “it is close to the limit” and that it will be necessary to find a balance to allow clubs to assist.
“Clubs have to remain sustainable and for that they have to have a certain number of matches. Those who complain are the big clubs, they play more than the others, but have 25 top players. We have to think very seriously about the number of matches,” emphasized the leader of the body that governs football in Europe, which has been in office since 2016.
The possible creation of a European Superliga was controversial, UEFA was completely against it, with Ceferin citing the example of Sheriff Moldovans, who defeated Real Madrid in the Bernabeu in the last edition of the Champions League.
“People who think that only the elites should play football don’t think that even they would get much worse. What many don’t know is that UEFA gives 95% of its revenue back to clubs. I insist that the dream lives on for everyone,” he underlined.
The current format of the European Championship, with 24 teams, “is not the ideal format”, Ceferin emphasized, who, however, emphasized the difficulties in changing the continental competition, while emphasizing his satisfaction with the “very successful” Liga of Nations .
“Maybe 32 teams would be better, but I don’t know if we can change that. If the top two qualified directly, the qualifying rounds would lose value and the competition wouldn’t be as attractive as it should be. We’re working on that.” with the federations. and we’ll see what the time brings. If we want to change a league like this, there will never be competitions again, because of the density of the calendar,” he explained.
Finally, the Slovenian cited the success of the last European Women’s Football Championship, with “thousands of tickets sold”, which UEFA did not expect to be “a resounding success”, despite being one of the “highest rises in the world” used to be.
“At UEFA, we don’t waste money investing in women’s football and it’s worth investing in. We need to invest in new products, for television and for sponsors, because it’s relatively cheap. I’m sure any investment will be very good ,” he said.
The Football Talks forum will take place between today and Tuesday, in Cidade do Futebol, with a comprehensive program based on topics related to the five strategic pillars identified in the FPF’s 2030 Football Plan: Childhood and Growth, Football for All and All, Quality of Gaming, Engagement and Ecosystem Sustainability.
Source: DN
