Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has criticised supporters of the European Super League and compared them to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.<\/span><\/p>\n Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona are still keen to push ahead with amended plans for the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In December, <\/span>Uefa and Fifa were backed<\/span><\/a> by the European Courts of Justice in their bid to block the creation of a European Super League.<\/span><\/p>\n “It’s a good job nobody has ever died of shame,” said Ceferin.<\/span><\/p>\n A final judgement is still to come next spring from the European Courts of Justice over a challenge to Uefa’s perceived monopoly position. <\/span><\/p>\n 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”.<\/span><\/p>\n The case was tabled by the European Super League and its supporters A22 Sports Management, who <\/span>backed a 12-club proposal in 2021<\/span><\/a> that failed to materialise as a result of protests.<\/span><\/p>\n “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.<\/span><\/p>\n “But nobody’s fooled. Because here we have two opposing world views. <\/span><\/p>\n “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.”<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n “Jealousy sees everything except the truth,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n “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. <\/span><\/p>\n “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. <\/span><\/p>\n “Rather than a model to be destroyed, this is a model that should be followed.”<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n However, it seemed to be the chaos in Paris to which he was referring when he admitted that all leaders make mistakes. <\/span><\/p>\n Uefa announced in March it was to refund Liverpool fans who had tickets for the match.<\/span><\/p>\n It followed an independent report that found <\/span>Uefa bears primary responsibility<\/span><\/a> for the chaotic scenes before the game against Real Madrid.<\/span><\/p>\n Fans were penned in and sprayed with tear gas outside the Stade de France in Paris as kick-off was delayed by 36 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n “No leader can boast an unblemished record,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n “There are always a few stains and mistakes that tarnish our reputation and errors they would love to erase. <\/span><\/p>\nPremier League critics are ‘jealous’<\/h3>\n
‘Understand mistakes and don’t repeat them’<\/h3>\n
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