Soccer-Ceferin opposes staging domestic league matches abroad in UEFA Congress speech

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin opposed the idea of hosting ​domestic matches abroad in his speech at the ​European body's 50th Congress on Thursday, ‌saying ​European leagues should not risk eroding the loyalty of their supporters at home for short-term goals. Ceferin, speaking a day after UEFA reached a settlement with ‌Real Madrid that ended their legal feud over the ill-fated European Super League, also stressed the need for European soccer to retain a single, open pyramid.

A LaLiga match between Villarreal and Barcelona was scheduled to take place in ‌the United States, and a Serie A game between AC Milan and Como was set to be ‌held in Australia, before the league authorities cancelled the plans last year. Ceferin advised clubs against trading "roots for reach."

"Domestic leagues draw their strength from their territory, their traditions and match-going fans. Exporting domestic matches abroad might serve short-term interests but it weakens connection and erodes ⁠loyalty," ​the Slovenian lawyer and soccer ⁠administrator said. "How do you build identity if you remove the game from its home... how do you sustain local passion if you ⁠trade it away?"

Ceferin, who has been the UEFA president since 2016, said the European soccer "will never be closed," in an ​apparent reference to the proposed European Super League, which had originally proposed a model that guaranteed the ⁠participation of some of the popular clubs. "It is for all. And what belongs to everyone is stronger than any single force... we ⁠chose ​unity over fragmentation. We chose stewardship over improvisation," he said.

"This season alone, more than 400 million euros ($475 million) will be redistributed to the clubs outside of the (Champions League's) league phase. And out of that, 308 ⁠million will go to clubs that don't participate in European competitions at all. Would this exist in a ⁠system driven only by ⁠profit? I am sure the answer is clear." FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who also spoke at the UEFA Congress, congratulated the European soccer body and Real for resolving ‌their legal dispute.

"Because ‌football wins when we unite," Infantino said. ($1 = 0.8420 euros) (Reporting ​by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru)