UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin dismissed reviews that golf equipment from Saudi Arabia could be allowed to play within the Champions League sooner or later.
“Only European clubs can participate in the Champions League, the Europa League or the Conference league,” the president of the European soccer ruling physique instructed the L’Equipe newspaper forward of the Champions League group stage draw on Thursday.
Despite the robust monetary development of the Saudi league, which attracted the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Sadio Mane lately, Ceferin would not see the nation as a menace to European soccer.
“We had a similar situation with China, which bought players at the end of their careers and offered them a lot of money. The result was that Chinese football didn’t develop after that,” Ceferin recalled.
“As far as I know, (Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian) Mbappe and (Manchester City striker Erling) Haaland are not dreaming about Saudi Arabia,” he stated.
Ceferin added that the method utilized by Saudi Arabia “is not the right way” and that the Saudi league “should work on the education of players and coaches, but that’s not my problem.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr
