Ceferin blasts Juve, Barca and Real Madrid over rumored ESL return

Aleksander Ceferin of UEFA has condemned the rumors of a return of the European Super League in the midst of a war in Ukraine. (Photo credit: UEFA)

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has publicly criticized Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus for their rumored plans to resurrect the rejected European Super League amidst the uproar in Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

Ceferin said he is "sick and tired" of addressing the idea of a "nonsense" breakaway league and accused the rebel clubs of plotting against UEFA in the middle of a war, and he’s threatening huge sanctions should the erring clubs repeat their actions of last year.

"I'm sick and tired of speaking of this non-football project," Ceferin told the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London via video link Thursday.

"Look, first they launched their nonsense of an idea in the middle of a pandemic; now we're reading articles every day that they are planning to launch another idea now in the middle of a war. "Do I have to speak more about those people? They obviously live in a parallel world.

"And while we are saving players together with other stakeholders, while we are working to help in a terrible situation, they work on a project like that."

Amidst claims by Juventus Chairman Andrea Agnelli, Ceferin lambasts the Italian and accused him of sabotaging all efforts by UEFA to make football a happy place but the Juventus man, head of the ESL in its first coming has refused to rule out a return, saying European football needs a reform.

Meanwhile, UEFA plans to introduce a "Swiss model" for the 2024-25 Champions League tournament that will see each club play 10 group games, rather than six, before advancing to a 16-team knock-out system in the second half of the season.