LISBON: Aleksander Ceferin railed against the rebel clubs backing a breakaway European Super League, likening the project to “Little Red Riding Hood,” as he was re-elected unopposed for a third term as UEFA president on Wednesday.
The 55-year-old Slovenian lawyer, first elected in 2016 following the downfall of Frenchman Michel Platini, will now remain in the role until 2027.
“I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your unanimous support. It really means a lot to me,” Ceferin told delegates after being re-elected by acclamation at the UEFA Congress in Lisbon.
“It is a great honor but mainly it is a great, great responsibility, toward you and toward football.”
The UEFA Congress came just a few weeks after Gianni Infantino was re-elected as president of the sport’s world governing body FIFA, also unopposed.
Ceferin recently successfully opposed proposals by Infantino to hold the World Cup every two years, and his re-election comes after he also fought off the breakaway Super League project during his second term.
He will now oversee the introduction of a new format for the Champions League starting next year.
However, the Super League is not dead yet, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus continuing to pursue the project.
A lawsuit has been launched against UEFA and FIFA at the European Court of Justice, accusing the governing bodies of abusing their power by threatening to expel clubs and players interested in joining a breakaway league.
A final ruling is expected in the coming weeks, although the court’s advocate general, whose opinions are often followed by judges, provided a first ruling favorable to UEFA in December.
“Those who promote this project are now claiming that they want to save football,” Ceferin said before evoking one of the most famous European fairy tales.
“In the space of a few months the so-called Super League has turned into a character in Little Red Riding Hood, a wolf disguised as a grandmother ready to eat you up.
“Is anybody fooled? Here we have two opposing world views, cynicism over morality, selfishness over solidarity, greed over benevolence, shameful lies over the truth, cartel over meritocracy and democracy, the quest for profit over the quest for trophies.
“Domestic leagues must remain the foundation of football,” added Ceferin, who also thanked the powerful European Club Association, presided over by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, for backing UEFA against the Super League.
The new Champions League format will be introduced from the 2024/25 season, with the number of clubs involved in the group stage increasing from 32 to 36 teams all playing in one pool using what is known as the Swiss system.
The new format will see all participants play eight matches against eight different opponents.
Currently the group stage is divided into eight sections of four teams playing each other home and away.
While he seeks to calm tensions with Infantino, who also addressed the meeting in Lisbon, Ceferin will in addition be able to focus on pursuing the planned introduction of new Financial Fair Play rules.
Clubs will be forced to limit spending on player and staff wages, transfers and agents fees to 70 percent of total revenues by 2025/26.
Ceferin has also raised the possibility of relaxing rules that currently prevent clubs with the same owners facing each other in European competitions.
However, on Wednesday he said UEFA had no solutions to that matter at the moment.
Re-elected UEFA president Ceferin goes on offensive against Super League rebels
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Re-elected UEFA president Ceferin goes on offensive against Super League rebels
- The UEFA Congress came just a few weeks after Gianni Infantino was re-elected as president of the sport's world governing body FIFA
- Ceferin recently successfully opposed proposals by Infantino to hold the World Cup every two years
Newcastle boss Howe eager to hang onto goalkeeper Dubravka
- Newcastle manager Eddie Howe still hopes goalkeeper Martin Dubravka will stay at St. James’ Park beyond the end of the January transfer window
LONDON: Newcastle manager Eddie Howe still hopes goalkeeper Martin Dubravka will stay at St. James’ Park beyond the end of the January transfer window.
The in-form 35-year-old Slovakia international has been heavily linked with a move to Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab as he enters the final six months of his contract with the Magpies.
Dubravka has conceded just two goals in seven games in all competitions — all of them victories — while deputising for the injured Nick Pope during a run where Newcastle are closing in on a place in the English League Cup final and are fifth in the Premier League table.
“Martin’s been in a difficult situation,” Howe said Friday.
“Like any player that is coming out of contract in the summer, with every player that I’ve ever worked with, there’s always that feeling of doubt.
“He will naturally want some conclusion to his future, whether that’s a new contract with us, whatever the outcome. But he’s certainly played very well and I’ve been really pleased with him.
“He’s more than played his part in our recent run of fixtures. Again against Arsenal (a 2-0 win in the first leg of a League Cup semifinal), I thought he was very, very good, so hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement with him.”
Dubravka was seen to be in tears following the conclusion of Tuesday’s game against Arsenal, in what many observers interpreted as a farewell to Newcastle.
He was signed by former Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez, initially on loan, in January 2018, but has largely been a back-up to England international Pope for the last two-and-a-half years, a period which included a loan spell at Manchester United.
But he has shown his value in recent weeks with Howe, who must decide whether or not to rest Dubravka for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie against fourth-tier Bromley, saying: “I know how much Newcastle means to him and you can see that emotionally, he’s very invested.
“Of course, all those things will be playing a part in his decision-making and our decision-making and hopefully there’s a successful outcome at the end.”
Newcastle have been linked with a move for Burnley’s England under-21 international James Trafford should Dubravka move on.
And Howe refused to say whether Pope, who is back in training, remained his first-choice goalkeeper.
“It’s always in a state of flux,” he said. “It’s always changing and moving because that’s down to the player’s performances.”
Manuel Neuer set to return in goal for depleted Bayern as Jamal Musiala is out with illness
- Musiala hasn’t been training because of illness and now is confirmed to miss Bayern’s first league game of the new year
MUNICH: Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is set to return for Bayern Munich for the first time in more than a month in Saturday’s Bundesliga game against Borussia Moenchengladbach but Jamal Musiala will miss out.
The 38-year-old Neuer missed Bayern’s last four games of 2024 with a broken rib and wasn’t in the squad for a friendly against Salzburg on Monday, but now looks fully fit again, coach Vincent Kompany said Friday.
Neuer’s return for Bayern’s first league game of 2025 is all the more important after backup Daniel Peretz injured a kidney in a training incident on Wednesday. He’s expected to miss a few weeks, Kompany said.
Kompany confirmed Musiala, who hadn’t been training because of illness, won’t be available Saturday for the German league leader.
Among several other absences are midfielder João Palhinha, who hasn’t played since early November with an adductor muscle tear, and defender Dayot Upamecano, who’s serving a one-game Bundesliga suspension for five yellow cards.
Bellingham leads Madrid past Mallorca to set up a Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona
- Bellingham blasted in the third shot in a row by Madrid after Rodrygo initially hit the post
- Madrid tacked on two goals late in stoppage time
JEDDAH: Jude Bellingham scored again to lead Real Madrid into the Spanish Super Cup final with a 3-0 win over Mallorca in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
The England midfielder, who led Madrid in scoring last season, started this campaign slowly but has netted seven goals in his last eight Spanish league games.
He notched another goal in 63rd minute of the Super Cup semifinal when he finally broke down a tough Mallorca that until his goal had imposed their defensive style on the star-studded Madrid.
Bellingham blasted in the third shot in a row by Madrid after Rodrygo initially hit the post and goalkeeper Dominik Greif blocked a follow-up by Kylian Mbappé.
Bellingham collected the rebound and slotted his shot from just outside the six-yard box under the on-rushing Greif and past three defenders who were trying to protect the goalmouth.
Madrid tacked on two goals late in stoppage time. Mallorca’s Martin Valjent scored an own goal when he inadvertently turned a pass by Brahim Díaz into his net. Rodrygo then took Madrid’s third.
The match ended with a short scuffle after the final whistle before calm was restored.
Barcelona await Madrid in Sunday’s final.
Madrid lost Aurélien Tchouaméni, a midfielder playing as a central defender, in the 54th after he took a hard knock to the head during a collision with a Mallorca player.
Youth player Raúl Asencio replaced him.
Madrid were competing as last season’s Spanish league champion, while Mallorca were invited as the runner-up in the Copa del Rey.
Former Madrid striker Karim Benzema, who now plays in the Saudi Arabian league, was in attendance.
The minor trophy has become a major cash maker for the federation and competing clubs since the federation struck a deal in 2019 to hold it in the Middle Eastern kingdom.
Everton fire manager Dyche hours before a game in first big call by new American owners
- Everton announced the move just hours before hosting third-tier Peterborough in the FA Cup third round
- “The process to appoint a new manager is underway and an update will be provided in due course,” Everton said
LONDON: In the first big call by its new American owners, Everton fired manager Sean Dyche on Thursday with the team just two spots above the relegation zone in the Premier League.
Everton announced the move just hours before hosting third-tier Peterborough in the FA Cup third round.
The storied club — a nine-time English champion which have been without a major trophy since 1995 — were bought last month by the Texas-based Friedkin Group in a deal reportedly worth in excess of 400 million pounds ($495 million).
Fronted by Dan Friedkin and his son Ryan, the group also owns Italian team Roma and has made itself unpopular with supporters of the Serie A club for making contentious management changes — including firing Daniele De Rossi, the club’s beloved former captain, early this season.
Removing Dyche might have been necessary, however, with Everton having won just one of their last 11 league games and scoring in just three of them. With 15 goals from their 19 games, Everton are the second-lowest scorer in the division and have plunged to just one point above the bottom three.
“The process to appoint a new manager is underway and an update will be provided in due course,” Everton said in a statement.
Dyche was in charge for nearly two years, during which he maintained Everton’s status as an ever-present in England’s top division since 1954. His style of play was pragmatic and often turgid, relying on not conceding goals more than providing entertainment — and that might be something the Friedkins look to change.
Everton said Leighton Baines, a former player and the club’s under-18s coach, and current club captain Seamus Coleman will take charge of the team on an interim basis.
Everton’s next Premier League game is on Wednesday against Aston Villa.
Tottenham beats Liverpool 1-0 in English cup semis after a serious injury and in-stadium ref call
- Liverpool, the defending League Cup champion, saw its 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions come to an end
Lucas Bergvall’s first goal for Tottenham secured a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the English League Cup semifinals on Wednesday in a first-leg match notable for a serious-looking injury to Rodrigo Bentancur and the first in-stadium announcement by a referee in the English game.
The 18-year-old Bergvall slotted home the winner in the 86th minute following a pass from Dominic Solanke, who thought 10 minutes earlier that he had given Tottenham the lead. That goal was ruled out after a VAR check for offside and referee Stuart Attwell communicated the decision via a wireless microphone to spectators inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and to TV viewers.
In the sixth minute, Bentancur — the Uruguay midfielder who plays for Tottenham — fell to the ground and lay prone after landing awkwardly when attempting a header from a corner. He was carried off on a stretcher, to applause from around the ground, after receiving treatment during a 10-minute delay.
The second leg is at Anfield on Feb. 6.
Newcastle leads Arsenal 2-0 after the first leg of the other semifinal match.
Liverpool, the defending League Cup champion, saw its 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions come to an end and there was a hint of controversy about only the team’s second loss of the season.
Visiting players and manager Arne Slot were unhappy that Bergvall was on the field to score what proved to be the winning goal after he escaped collecting a second yellow card for a foul on Kostas Tsimikas moments earlier. Indeed, Tsimikas was off the field, waiting to come back on having received treatment following Bergvall’s tackle, when the Sweden midfielder tucked home his finish.
Slot earned a yellow card himself for his protests, though he shook Attwell’s hand after the final whistle.
“It was quite obvious it was going to be a second yellow,” Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said. “A minute later he scores the winner.
“He (Attwell) made a mistake, in my opinion.”
It was a busy end to the match for Attwell, who took center stage after there was a video review following Solanke’s strike in the 76th minute. After being notified that Solanke was offside, Attwell used the public address system to declare the goal had been ruled out, in an NFL-style announcement.
The League Cup semifinals were chosen to pilot a process in England that has been widely used in other sports, and in soccer at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and other FIFA events.
