Aleksander Ceferin, the President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the governing body of European football and the umbrella organisation for 55 national associations, has renewed hopes of introducing salary cap for European football.
The UEFA President indicated that he has spoken to the European Commission about the issue and talks have taken place about bringing in such a measure. He thus, noted that all clubs agree on the topic.
“Surprisingly, everyone agrees. Big clubs, small clubs, state-owned clubs, billionaire-owned clubs, everybody agrees.
“In the future, we have to seriously think about a salary cap. If the budgets go sky-high, then our competitive balance is a problem. It’s not about the owners, it’s about the value of the competition, because if five clubs will always win then it doesn’t make sense any more.”
Aleksander Ceferin
Aleksander Ceferin added that it has to be a collective agreement – every league and Uefa. “Because if we do it and the other leagues don’t, then it doesn’t make sense. I hope it can be made as soon as possible,” he said.
“For now, we have the new rule after 2024 that you can spend up to 70% of your revenues for salaries and transfers, but that’s not enough because if your revenues are five billion, 70% is quite a lot.”
Aleksander Ceferin
Aleksander Ceferin underscored the importance of FIFA in the discussion. He also indicated his preparedness to convince powerful club owners to accept the salary cap.
“So this is the future here, and I’m not afraid of the club owners being too powerful or anything. Uefa is leading the European competition and we have great relations with the European Club Association now.”
Aleksander Ceferin
Early in the month, Ceferin was re-elected as UEFA President unopposed for a third term, and will remain in the role until 2027. He also discussed the prospect of the Champions League final taking place in the United States with Men In Blazers.
Ceferin did not rule out such a possibility but stated it would not be until at least 2026.
“We have started to discuss that, but one year it was the World Cup, 2024 is Euros, this year [the final] is in Istanbul, 2024 is London and 2025 is Munich and after that, let’s see. It’s possible.”
Aleksander Ceferin
Meanwhile, FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, also spoke about the possibility of a salary cap in football last month and the topic is also on the radar of European football’s governing body.
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