Topic: Why are FIFA and UEFA leaders suddenly pro Oil State?

[JRed]

So, Alexander Ceferin has been re-elected unopposed, just like his FIFA counterpart. He used the occasion to confirm his stance of being in favour of State owned clubs.
Almost overnight, he went from trying to ban Abu Dhabi from European competition for cheating, to being a mouthpiece for cheating sportswashers. He , along with Infantino have sold football to the despots.
I just can’t figure out what could possibly have caused them to do so…

[A Red Abroad]

Do you think it might be... er.... money?

[TepidT2O]

Do you think it might be... er.... money?

no, it’s a rhetorical question

[A Red Abroad]

no, it’s a rhetorical question

Yeah, I got that... it was an (attempted) rhetorical/obvious reply.

Ah well.

[reddebs]

Without even reading the OP, it's where the money is.

[JRed]

Yeah, it’s fairly obvious why they have done it. What chance do proper football clubs have tho, when the games leaders have so openly sold its soul to some of the worst regimes on the planet.

[A Red Abroad]

Without even reading the OP, it's where the money is.

Sad, but so true.

[TheShanklyGates]

Super League 'like wolf in Little Red Riding Hood'


Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has criticised supporters of the European Super League and compared them to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.

Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona are still keen to push ahead with amended plans for the project.

In December, Uefa and Fifa were backed by the European Courts of Justice in their bid to block the creation of a European Super League.

"It's a good job nobody has ever died of shame," said Ceferin.

A final judgement is still to come next spring from the European Courts of Justice over a challenge to Uefa's perceived monopoly position.

But the courts' advocate general Athanasios Rantos said at the end of last year that the rules of football's European and world governing bodies were "compatible with EU competition law".

The case was tabled by the European Super League and its supporters A22 Sports Management, who backed a 12-club proposal in 2021 that failed to materialise as a result of protests.

"Those who promote this project are now claiming that they want to save football. In the space of a few months, the Super League has turned into a character in Little Red Riding Hood: a wolf disguised as a grandmother, ready to eat you up," Ceferin told the Uefa Congress in Lisbon.

"But nobody's fooled. Because here we have two opposing world views.

"We have cynicism over morality. We have selfishness over solidarity. We have greed over benevolence. Self-absorption over openness to others. Self-interest over altruism. Shameful lies over the truth. Heirs over builders. Cartel over meritocracy and democracy. Stock prices over sporting merit. The quest for profit over the quest for trophies."

At the meeting, Ceferin was re-elected as Uefa president unopposed for a third term and will now remain in the role until 2027.

Premier League critics are 'jealous'

Ceferin also defended the Premier League, despite some viewing it as being in the vanguard of precisely the aspects of the European Super League he attacked.

"Jealousy sees everything except the truth," he said.

"Since the British government, supporters and clubs said no to the Super League, the Premier League has been demonised and labelled a Super League in its own right that needs to be toppled.

"However, the Premier League's success was not achieved by accident. By adopting an audacious approach based on a vision, a strategy and a lot of hard work, its leaders and clubs developed a remarkable model founded on sporting merit, one of the most egalitarian systems in the world.

"Rather than a model to be destroyed, this is a model that should be followed."
'Understand mistakes and don't repeat them'

During his address Ceferin did not specifically mention Uefa's widely criticised handling of last season's Champions League final or its initial attempts to blame fans for the problems.

However, it seemed to be the chaos in Paris to which he was referring when he admitted that all leaders make mistakes.

Uefa announced in March it was to refund Liverpool fans who had tickets for the match.

It followed an independent report that found Uefa bears primary responsibility for the chaotic scenes before the game against Real Madrid.

Fans were penned in and sprayed with tear gas outside the Stade de France in Paris as kick-off was delayed by 36 minutes.

"No leader can boast an unblemished record," he said.

"There are always a few stains and mistakes that tarnish our reputation and errors they would love to erase.

"I am no different and Uefa is no different. The most important thing is to understand the mistake, change and not repeat them."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65178168

Shameless doesn't even begin to cover it. The lack of self awareness is astonishing.

[Tobelius]

Strange bizarro world speech by Ceferin,like something from Orwell's 1984 'newspeak'.

I wasn't for it but ESL's starting to sound pretty good to me.

[elsewhere]

Today I feel oily.

[lobsterboy]

[Boston always unofficial]

The good old days...

[thaddeus]

(I'm not very good at searching so I'm more than happy for mods to move this to another more appropriate thread if one exists)

Aleksander Ceferin: Uefa president says he will not stand for re-election in 2027

It comes after Uefa voted to change its rules, which would have allowed the 56-year-old Slovenian to run again and potentially stay at the helm of European football's governing body until 2031.

The English Football Association (FA) was the only nation to oppose the rule amendment at a Uefa congress in Paris.

...

Ceferin told a news conference: "I decided six months ago that I would not run any more. The reason is that after some time every organisation needs fresh blood, but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now.

"I intentionally didn't want to disclose my thoughts before, because firstly, I wanted to see the real face of some people and I saw it."

What a self-important prat.  If he's to be believed and he decided not to stand six months ago then he's created six months of turmoil and an easily exploitable rule change just to stroke his ego.

If our FA are on the "naughty step" then they should see it as an honour.

[Dougle]

Tossers.

[Skeeve]

no, it’s a rhetorical question

Wouldn't that make this a rhetroical topic and thus all posts should be deleted from it? 

[RJH]

Strange bizarro world speech by Ceferin,like something from Orwell's 1984 'newspeak'.

I wasn't for it but ESL's starting to sound pretty good to me.

Funny you mention Orwell, reading it I actual thought of Animal Farm:

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

[lobsterboy]

The original question is about as challenging as why so many rich powerful men are "sex addicts"

Alien Wizards of course!