Champions League
UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin has rejected reports that clubs from Saudi Arabia could also play in the Champions League in the future and clearly denied this option.
31.08.2023 16.45
Online since today, 4.45 p.m
“Only European clubs can take part in the Champions League, the Europa League or the Europa Conference League,” said the 55-year-old President of the European Football Association (UEFA) to a question from the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe”.
Despite the upgrade of the financially strong Saudi league, Ceferin sees no danger for European football. “We had a similar approach from China, which bought players at the end of their careers and offered them big bucks. The result: Chinese football didn’t develop after that and didn’t qualify for the World Cup,” Ceferin explained.
Reuters/Ahmed Yosri Neymar also docked in Saudi Arabia
Country attracts stars
This summer, a number of stars like Neymar and Sadio Mane moved to Saudi Arabia for a lot of money, which Ceferin sees critically: “It’s not the right way, they should work on training players and coaches, but that’s not my problem .”
According to Ceferin, only players at the end of their careers and those who are not ambitious enough are drawn to the desert: “As far as I know, Mbappe and Haaland do not dream of Saudi Arabia,” he said, referring to the superstars Kylian who play in Europe Mbappe and Erling Haaland. “We’ll see what happens, but I don’t think for a second that this could jeopardize our competitions.”