sportstotomen   Album Posted Sep.3rd, 2023, viewed 365 times

UEFA President's blunt statement: "Saudi league a threat? Similar to Chinese league"

Alexander Cheperin

"It's not a threat at all, I see it as similar to the Chinese league."

The head of European football's governing body, UEFA President Aleksander Čepelin, has dismissed as "not a threat at all" a Saudi Arabian professional league that is luring soccer stars with astronomical "oil money.

"I feel that the Saudi league is making a mistake similar to the Chinese Super League," Cheferin told French sports outlet L'Equipe on Monday, emphasizing that "that's not the right way to go."

"The Saudi league is not a threat at all. We saw a similar approach in the Chinese league," he said. "They spent a lot of money to bring in players. But Chinese soccer didn't develop, and then they didn't make it to the World Cup."

"The money-oriented approach is not right," Cheferin said. We need to develop players and coaches," he said, adding, "But this is not my business."

Backed by the vast resources of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund (PIF), the Saudi league has attracted the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nasr), last year's Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad) and 'Brazilian star' Neymar (Al-Hilal) since December last year.

More recently, Italy's "mastermind" Roberto Mancini was hired to coach the Saudi national team.

"Some of the players who choose the Saudi League are either at the end of their careers or don't have the ambition to compete in the top leagues," says Cheferin, "As far as I know, Kylian Mbappe (PSG) and Elling Holland (Manchester City) don't dream of playing in the Saudi League. The best players will not go to the Saudi league."

He also addressed speculation that Saudi clubs could participate in the UEFA Clubs' Cup or even host the final: "Only European clubs are eligible to participate. Only UEFA member states can bid to host the final. 토토 We have no intention of changing the rules."