UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says there is a “small possibility” that Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final clash against Real Madrid will not go ahead as punishment for signing up for the European Super League.
Madrid and Chelsea were among the 12 teams who announced their intention to form a breakaway competition on Sunday night.
The project had fallen apart just 48 hours later as all six Premier League clubs dropped out and attention has now turned to the punishments that are set to be dished out to the ‘Dirty Dozen’.
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Chelsea, Madrid and Manchester CIty are still in the Champions League, while Arsenal and Manchester United remain in the Europa League.
It had been mooted that they could be disqualified from this season’s competitions, with Ceferin labelling those involved as ‘arrogant snakes’ in recent days.
But the UEFA chief admits the move to kick the teams out this season would be unlikely due to broadcasting deals in place.
“The key is that this season has already started, so broadcasters would come at us for damages if we don’t play the semi-finals,” he said on Slovenian TV channel 24UR.
“So, there’s a relatively small possibility that this match isn’t played next week. But, things could be a little different in the future.”
Asked about Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s outburst on Wednesday, in which he said he would never want a president like Ceferin, the Slovenian replied: “Well, that’s more incentive for me to stay.
“He wants a president who obeys whatever he says, who listens to him and who does what he thinks. I do what I think is good for European and world football.”
Perez has refused to back down in his defence of the Super League and insists anyone who thinks the project is dead is “completely wrong”.
“I am a bit sad, disappointed,” Perez said. “We have been working three years on this project, on fighting the current financial situation in Spanish football. It is easy to understand – you cannot touch LaLiga, so you look for more money midweek.
“The leagues are sacred. What we can change is the midweek games. The Champions League is obsolete – it’s only interesting from the quarter-finals onwards.
“Among the 12 teams we lost €650million last season. This season two or three more times. This format clearly does not work.”
Perez also bizarrely claimed that Chelsea fans were taken to Stamford Bridge to protest the Super League on Tuesday night.
He said: “Who brought those Chelsea fans to protest? There were only 40 Chelsea fans, and I could tell who brought them… just like here someone gave Cadiz jerseys (against Super League).”
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