UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin participated in a pair of conventions in Italy after announcing that he would run again for the position. He spoke about a few topics, including Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis previously stating that clubs should be able to block players from participating in the African Cup of Nations (via Ansa).
“I disagree with his opinion. Footballers must represent their national teams. It’s an essential element in football.”
The official praised Roma for contributing to the success of the European Conference League.
“I’m satisfied with how such competition and the Nations League are going. Somebody criticized it, but now we’re getting requests to host the final in bigger stadiums. It was more watched than the Europa League one last year.”
Ceferin once again attacked the Super League.
“It’s a silly idea that tried to ruin football. We have talked about it even too much. It’s a problem that doesn’t exist anymore. The words of Florentino Perez confirm that their idea is to shut down everything, not play against smaller clubs and change the whole European system. It would be a huge mistake, and I don’t want to discuss it anymore. Champions League will be more open and interesting starting from 2024. There will be four more teams, both there and in Europa League. It will be like a domestic competition, and more sides will face each other.”
Ceferin said that they are almost in lockstep with FIFA.
“The two federations agree on 95 percent of the matters, but the public opinion focuses on the remaining 5 percent. We shot down the idea of having the World Cup every two years in the last congress.”
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