UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has labeled Manchester United’s Ed Woodward and Juventus’ Andrea Agnelli ‘snakes’ and’ liars’, following news of their involvement in plans for a breakout Super League.
Woodward and Angelli have been at the heart of controversial plans to form a new European competition with closed shops that will soon compete with the Champions League. The Super League was formally announced on Sunday, shortly after it emerged that Agnelli would end his role in the European Club Association (ECA).
Appetite for a Super League has been sparse and UEFA released a statement on Sunday in connection with football associations in England, Spain and Italy. It outlined a universal desire to stop a “cynical project”, which they say is designed to serve only a few elite clubs at the expense of everyone else.
European Super League.
Civil war. pic.twitter.com/zhce34IKCA
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) 19 April 2021
The Premier League’s “big sex”, as well as three clubs each in Spain and Italy have been confirmed for the new competition. But Bayern Munich have rejected it, while FC Porto have already announced that they will not play any role.
All this is happening at the same time as UEFA is planning a reformed Champions League – and UEFA chief Ceferin has made his dissatisfaction known without a doubt.
Firstly, he reiterated UEFA’s previous position that no participating players will be able to compete in future European Championships or World Cups.
He said via Sky Sports: “We are still evaluating the situation with our legal team. It is a bit too early.
“We will take all sanctions we can and we will inform you as soon as we have a clear answer. My opinion is that as soon as possible the players must be banned from all our competitions.
“I can not emphasize stronger UEFA and the football world is united against the shameful, self-serving proposals we have seen, driven by greed.
“It’s nonsense of a project. This idea is a spit in the face of all football players and our society. We will not allow them to remove this from us.
“Players who will play in teams that can play in the closed league will be banned from playing in the World Cup and the Euro. They could not represent the national team in any matches.”
UEFA’s Alexander Ceferin confirms: “Players who will play in the Super League will be banned from playing in the World Cup and Euro. Ceferin. They are not allowed to play for their national teams “. ??? #SuperLeague
– Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 19, 2021
He then dismissed Woodward and Agnelli in particular and singled them out for loud criticism.
Ceferin said: “If I start with Ed Woodward, he called me on Thursday night and said that he is very pleased with and fully supports the reforms and the only thing he wants to talk about was the FFP, when he had obviously already signed something else.
“Andrea Agnelli is the biggest disappointment of all, I’ve never seen a person who would lie so many times, as persistently as he did. It’s unbelievable.
“We did not know we had snakes so close to us, now we know.
“The Super League is just about money, money of a dozen, I do not want to call them dirty dozens, but UEFA is about developing football, and about financing what is to be financed, that our football, our culture survives and some people do not understand it .
“Not only the football world, but society and governments are united. It is part of our culture. We are all united against this nonsense in a project.”
UEFA President Ceferin tells Ed Woodward + Agnelli: “If I start with Ed Woodward, he called me last Thursday night and said he was very pleased with and fully supports the reforms + the only thing he wants to talk about was FFP, when of course he already signed something else.
– Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) April 19, 2021
It has already been confirmed that Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge will replace Agnelli on the ECA board, which puts an end to all hopes that Bayern will join the Super League.
