UEFA wanted to convey an image of unity of international football against the Super League. The president of the governing body of European football, Aleksander Ceferin, appeared at a telematic press conference in which the president of the European Club Association (ECA), Nasser Al Jelaifi, the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, and the president of the European Leagues, Pedro Proença, among all.
In the same Ceferin defended the reforms carried out by UEFA since 2021 to expand and improve European competitions, mocked the Super League project and recalled that Madrid and Barcelona are alone. “We see this decision of the European Court of Justice as an opportunity to improve some rules. It must be said that football remains united. Governments and national institutions support us. There is a big difference between the ruling, which reinforces solidarity and open competitions, and the Super League press release.
“We want to reinforce this role as a governing body,” said Ceferin, who said that the court “has not approved the Super League.”
For Ceferin, the ruling “reinforces our model based on sporting merit. “Everyone can organize their own competitions but any new competition must comply with sporting merit and solidarity.”
UEFA presents itself as guarantor of the national leagues and Ceferin was even ironic against the Super League. “It is difficult to understand whether we should laugh or cry with the project that the Super League has presented today. I’m going to choose to have fun, since Christmas is here. The system they have presented today is even more closed than the previous one, so teams like Girona or Atalanta would not even qualify in these three-tier competitions. Therefore, it would not be an open competition.”
Ceferin stated that they are not going to prevent Barça or Madrid from advancing. “We are not going to stop them. “They can create whatever they want and I hope to have a fabulous competition with two clubs as soon as possible.”
Javier Tebas spoke along the same lines, emphasizing that “the ruling expressly says that it does not imply recognition of the Super League. A22 and the two Spanish clubs have built a story of an open competition. It is not true, it is closer than 2019 and almost as closed as 2021. With this competition model, the same clubs will always be in the first category. “The ruling does not recognize the Super League.”
Meanwhile, the president of PSG and the ECA, Nasser Al Jelaifi, stressed that there are only two or three clubs that are not in the UEFA project. “Our door will always be open to these two or three clubs. “We want to represent all clubs in open and fair competitions.”