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The president of Uefa, Aleksander Ceferin, has made an outspoken intervention in European politics, claiming “freedom of speech no longer exists” and “we are all fed up of political correctness”.
In a wide-ranging series of remarks Ceferin attacked European politicians over their handling of the Ukraine war and for “preaching to the world”. He even joked that the only “great thing” the EU has done is to mandate that bottle tops should not be detachable.
Speaking to Delo, a newspaper from his home country of Slovenia, Ceferin began by praising his new expanded Champions League format, which he described as “perfect”. But he soon moved into politics, and his perception that Europe is “losing out in every way” because of regulation and what he sees as moral grandstanding.
“We should unite, but I don’t know if that is possible,” Ceferin says. “We should open up and stop regulating the market so much. No one, not even China, should be our enemy – and it isn’t – we should treat everyone as partners. We preach to others how they should behave, but we have a problem doing exactly that ourselves.
“We are all fed up with political correctness. Here in the western world, freedom of speech no longer exists. You can no longer say what you think. On one hand, there are the right-wing populists who have a simple rhetoric – migrants are taking your jobs and engaging in crime, LGBT propaganda will make families non-existent, they will destroy your children, and so on. This is such simplistic populist rhetoric that anyone can understand it. On the other hand, almost all western mainstream politics (it is neither left- nor right-wing) and most of the mainstream media are addressing people from the intellectual and arrogant high ground.”
Ceferin argued that, because “no one can say what they think any more, except stand-up comedians”, the counter-argument to right-wing populism is not being made. “Nobody talks to the people, nobody explains to them that people can love each other regardless of their sexual orientation, nobody explains to them that some people are uncomfortable in their own bodies,” he said, “that migrants do indeed commit crimes, too, but they are punished like everyone else. Mainstream politics should ask itself what it is doing wrong to make all this happen. You cannot say to people to not talk about it any more.”
He was also critical of “mainstream politics, especially by the left-wing” in causing Uefa to abandon plans to reintroduce Russian teams to European youth competitions two years ago. “The media started attacking Uefa and everyone backed off, saying: ‘We would support the idea, but the governments won’t let us,’” Ceferin said. “In reality, they did not let the children socialise. Politics generates hatred and intolerance out of self-interest, while speaking out against it.”
European leaders gathered on Monday in Kyiv to mark three years of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and passed a motion in the UN condemning Russian aggression.
In the interview Ceferin praised Prince William as “the most knowledgeable” football fan among the global dignitaries he has met, although he is more impressed by the Emir of Qatar who, Ceferin claims, often watches three football matches at once. He also rejects reports that the Champions League final will eventually be staged in the US after a media rights deal with the US agency Relevent. “They have not discussed moving the Champions League finals to another continent,” he said. “I probably would have known if we had negotiated it.”
As for the Champions League, in which 36 teams have competed in a single league stage this season, Ceferin declared himself pleased. “I only heard positive responses,” he said. “I estimate that 99% of people are now satisfied with the renewed Champions League. The competition is even more unpredictable than before, nobody knew until the very last moment whether they would qualify. It’s a perfect success, and the Champions League ratings are excellent.”
