UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has dismissed claims from Barcelona president Joan Laporta that the Super League are in talks over a change to the Champions League format.
Laporta has been one of the driving forces behind the rival UEFA competition and said last month that discussions had taken place over reforms to Europe’s elite club competition.
But Ceferin insisted that was not the case. Speaking to Politico, he said: “If UEFA was negotiating with the promoters of the Super League, the president of UEFA does not know.
“And without me knowing it, it doesn’t make sense. So that’s not true.
“Of course we communicate, not me personally, but with both clubs from Spain [Barca and Real Madrid]. I have had a meeting with Laporta, everything is fine, but that’s not a negotiation. Neither the system nor the new format of the Champions League will change, that’s clear.
“Both clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, will always be welcome back to the European football family, where they have always belonged.”
The initial proposal in 2021 for the formation of a European Super League was shot down due to fan opposition and Ceferin remains steadfast in his opinion that it would severely dent the game as a whole.
He added: “European football showed incredible unity at that time. Obviously, stopping the Super League, that elitist competition that, in my humble opinion, would destroy football as it is.”
Ceferin hints UEFA are powerless to prevent Barcelona playing Villarreal in Miami
Ceferin also spoke out against the prospect of European league games being staged abroad with UEFA set to rule next week on whether Barca’s La Liga game with Villarreal can be staged in Miami in December.
The Slovenian admitted the organisation’s hands were tied to a certain extent.
He added: “We are not happy, but, no matter how much we have legally challenged it, we do not have much room for manoeuvre if the [Spanish] federation agrees, and both federations too [including the US].
“But I think that, for the future, we will have to debate this very seriously, because soccer should be played in Europe, fans should watch it at home; they can’t travel to Australia or the United States to see their teams.
“We will also open this conversation with FIFA and with all the federations, because I don’t think it’s positive. If it is an exception, fine; if there is a reason, fine; but, in principle, European teams should play in Europe because the fans who support them live in Europe. It’s a great tradition.”
