Tag: UEFA

 Germany will host the 2029 Women’s European Championship, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said at the governing body’s executive committee.

Denmark and Sweden had submitted a joint bid while Poland was also a candidate.

Italy and Portugal had withdrawn their bids before the vote, focusing on their preparations to co-host the men’s Euro 2032 and 2030 men’s World Cup, respectively.

“All the presentations and all the bids were great but there is only one winner, in football as in life,” Ceferin said.

Germany hosted the tournament in 2001 and as West Germany in 1989, both times winning on home soil.

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“It was a long journey. We have so many people working at DFB (German football association) to get this tournament. Thanks to all who supported us, we felt this support throughout the campaign,” DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said.

Before the executive committee meeting, a small group of activists unfurled a banner demanding UEFA ban Israel from European competition over the country’s military operations in Gaza, also setting off pink flares.

They were overseen by police and no incident was reported.

Israel’s continued participation in international football has to be dealt with first and foremost by European governing body UEFA, FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani  has said.

UEFA was expected to hold an emergency vote this week on whether to suspend Israel from European competition over the war in Gaza.

However, British media reported that the continental body has decided to hold off on a proposed vote following the announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in the region.

Israel are third in Group I of the qualifying stage for next year’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Amnesty International on Wednesday sent a letter to FIFA and UEFA calling on them to suspend the Israel Football Association.

However, Montagliani, President of the North and Central America and Caribbean soccer federation CONCACAF, said it was down to UEFA to rule on Israel’s participation.

“First and foremost, it (Israel) is a member of UEFA, no different than I have to deal with a member of my region for whatever reason… They have to deal with that,” Montagliani told reporters at the Leaders sports business conference.

“And I respect not only their process but whatever decision they make.”

Montagliani will attend the FIFA Council meeting in Zurich today  where the issue of Israel’s participation is not on the agenda nor is the proposal from South American federation CONMEBOL to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams.

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Next year’s World Cup from June 11-July 18 will be the biggest ever having already been expanded to 48 teams from 32.

Montagliani insisted that no games would be moved from planned venues despite Trump saying last month that he would consider relocating matches from cities he did not deem safe.

“If I have to react every time a politician makes a statement, whether it’s a president or senator or congressman … then I wouldn’t be doing my job, because I’d be focusing on what these guys say,” the Canadian added.

“So the reality is, we’re focused on the 16 venues and making sure that they’re ready to go …”

However, Montagliani said the kick-off times in certain venues could be changed after the experience of the Club World Cup hosted in the U.S. earlier this year, where some matches took place in extreme heat and humidity.

“It’s always an issue in our region, because summers are hot … even in Canada they’re hot, not just the U.S., and so it’s important to learn those things,” he added.

The full match schedule will be announced after the World Cup draw on December 5 in Washington D.C.

Montagliani said there were daily discussions with global broadcasters and time differences would be taken into account.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and player union FIFPRO President David Terrier called for action to safeguard player health, warning that the congested fixture calendar has reached a tipping point.

Their joint statement came after Barcelona coach Hansi Flick’s criticism of Spain’s handling of Lamine Yamal’s groin injury, in which he said the 18-year-old was given painkillers to play in World Cup qualifiers despite complaining of discomfort.

Paris St Germain said this month they were seeking corrective measures and accused France’s medical staff of ignoring their recommendations on injury risks after Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue returned to the club injured.

France’s players’ union (UNFP) has also blamed the international calendar for risking player health.

Ceferin and Terrier, who met last week in Albania, have urged UEFA, associations, leagues, clubs and unions to work together to protect player welfare while upholding the values of the European football pyramid.

“Our collaboration with FIFPRO Europe reflects a shared responsibility to protect player health and strengthen the foundations of the game,” Ceferin said.

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“National team football remains a pillar of Europe’s identity and unity. As demands on players grow, it’s more important than ever to work together – with national associations, leagues, clubs and players – to find balanced solutions for the future of the sport.”

Terrier said there was a collective responsibility to take action.

“We all recognise that the calendar has reached a tipping point,” he said.

“In Europe, we are fortunate to have the tools and the partners – including clubs, leagues and national associations – to build protocols that protect the well-being of players and ensure that both national team and club football continue to inspire, unite and grow.”

Aston Villa and Chelsea have been fined by UEFA for breaches of its financial rules.

Chelsea have to pay a total of £27m in fines and could pay up to £52m more if they breach their four-year agreement with the CFCB.

Aston Villa must pay £9.5m in fines and failure to comply with their three-year settlement could lead to a further penalty of up to £13m more.

Both Premier League clubs broke UEFA’s football earnings rule and squad cost rule.

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Villa and Chelsea had a squad cost ratio (percentage of a club’s income spent on the first-team squad) of between 80 and 90 per cent for 2024.

Their fines for this breach – Aston Villa £5.1m and Chelsea £9.4m – are proportionate to the size of the club’s squad cost excess. From 2025, the squad cost ratio will be 70 per cent.

Chelsea have to pay £17.2m for their breaches of the football earnings rule and that could rise to more than £69m if they breach the four-year settlement with the CFCB.

Villa were handed an unconditional fine of £4.3m for their breach of the rule and it could rise to £17.2m if they do not comply with the three-year agreement.

UEFA has postponed a decision on whether to admit Crystal Palace into next season’s Europa League.

Palace thought they had secured a place in Europe’s second-tier club competition thanks to their FA Cup final win over Manchester City in May but uncertainty arose as to whether they would be allowed to enter due to UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.

Outgoing major shareholder John Textor, who has agreed to sell his stake in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, has an interest in French club Lyon, who qualified for the same competition.

But UEFA announced on Monday it needed more time to make a decision on Palace’s Europa League involvement and said Lyon had reached a settlement that would exclude them from European competition in the 2025/26 season if they were relegated to Ligue 2 over financial difficulties.

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The seven-time French champions were relegated last week but they have appealed against that verdict which will be considered at a meeting on Friday.

A UEFA statement said: “The CFCB (club financial control body) first chamber has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace.

“This postponement relates to Olympique Lyonnais’ compliance with the settlement agreement concluded with the CFCB first chamber for its breach of the financial sustainability requirements.

“As part of this settlement, Olympique Lyonnais agreed on an exclusion from the 2025/26 UEFA club competitions should the French authority (DNCG) confirm the club’s relegation to Ligue 2.

“Further details on this multi-club ownership case and this settlement agreement will be communicated in due course.”

Sepp Blatter, the former head of FIFA, and Michel Platini, the ex-president of UEFA, will be back in a Swiss court today  for another examination of the charges of fraud that knocked them off the summits of global football.

A special appeals court, sitting in Muttenz near Basel, will hear a request by the country’s Attorney General’s office (OAG) to reopen proceedings against Blatter, who turns 89 on March 10, and the 69-year-old Platini.

The long-running legal saga began in 2015 when Blatter quit as head of FIFA in a corruption crisis. It stems from a delayed payment of two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros) FIFA paid Frenchman Platini in 2011 for consultancy services.

The pair were acquitted by the Swiss Federal Court in June 2022 of charges that included “disloyal management”, “breach of trust” and “forgery of securities”.

The court concluded that fraud was “not established with a likelihood bordering on certainty”, and therefore applied the general principle of criminal law according to which “the doubt must benefit the accused”.

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The OAG immediately appealed the verdict and the appeal court will hold a hearing from Monday until Thursday and hand down a verdict by March 25.

The defence and prosecution agree that the Frenchman did advise Blatter between 1998 and 2002, during the Swiss administrator’s first term at the head of FIFA, and that in 1999 the two men signed a contract agreeing an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, to be “paid in full by FIFA”.

Blatter and Platini say that at the start they agreed orally, and without witnesses, on an annual salary of one million Swiss francs, but FIFA’s financial state did not allow for immediate payment.

In January 2011, “more than eight years after the end of his activity as advisor”, Platini “claimed a debt of two million Swiss francs”, which FIFA paid.

At the time, Blatter was running for re-election as FIFA president and Platini had become head of European football. In December 2010, FIFA had awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Prosecutors argue that this was an “unfounded” payment, obtained by “cleverly misleading” FIFA’s internal controls through false statements made by the two executives.