Ceferin rules out any early return from Russia and says multi-nation European hosting is not the future

By Andrew Warshaw

September 22 - UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has reiterated that the ban imposed on Russia from European football following their invasion of Ukraine is unlikely to be lifted anytime soon .

Ceferin told a press conference after the UEFA executive committee meeting in Hvar, Croatia this week that Russia will remain in the cold for the foreseeable future.

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"The decision of the national team and clubs on their suspension was a decision until further notice, which means that we are monitoring the situation, and until we decide otherwise, it will remain so" , Ceferin said after the exclusion of Russia. of the qualifying competition for Euro 2024.

"We don't have to make a decision every time another contest comes up. We all hope that the war will end as soon as possible, so that we can have the national team of Russia in our competitions. But the situation as it is is such that we can't even discuss it."

What if there was a ceasefire, he was asked.

"I can't say that from the moment an agreement is signed, they will be able to compete," he replied. "What we can do is advocate for peace and then we hope the war will end soon, and after that we will decide what to do."

Ceferin also dismissed rumors that UEFA could withdraw European Champions League matches.

Media reports have suggested that the UEFA exco is exploring options to host some fixtures in neutral territory, such as the United States, China and the Middle East.

"We never discussed it," Ceferin said. "I would be aware if there were any talks about the possibility of playing Champions League games outside of Europe, and I don't know about that."

He also reiterated that under his leadership there will never again be multi-site European finals such as Euro 2020, one of the reasons being that it gives an unfair advantage to those who mainly play home.

A pan-European final was dreamed up by former UEFA boss Michel Platini, but Ceferin, who never fully embraced the concept after taking over from Platini, has made it clear that more than two joint hosts at the future were not up for it.

“We do not envisage such EURO tournaments in 10 or 11 countries. It was quite complicated,” he said.

Without specifically mentioning runners-up Italy and England, who both played all of their group matches at home, with England only having to travel once throughout the final, Ceferin remarked: "As far as sporting considerations are concerned, Switzerland played a match in Rome and then in Baku.”

"Some teams played at home all the time and those that didn't travel and played at home ended up in the final. We don't like that concept at all. It was the 60th anniversary of the 'EURO, of a pan-European friendship. That was the element of the idea.

"I'm not saying that the idea as such was bad, but my feeling is that the EURO should be held in one or two countries if we are talking about smaller countries, but it is very difficult to repeat such an exercise at any time."

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