The men’s football calendar is full and “we cannot play one more match”, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has told Sky News.
Amid concerns about workload for players, and fears of burnout, the boss of European football said expanding the Champions League was essential to help clubs in financial difficulties as costs escalate and to spread more cash across the continent.
Image: Aleksander Ceferin speaking to Sky News’ Rob Harris
In a rare interview, Mr Ceferin also said:
• Financial regulations could be changed again if clubs are finding it hard to comply • There are no longer plans to stage the Champions League final outside of Europe • UEFA would welcome Saudi sponsorship • Politicians should stop interfering in football • England fans should stop being angry after losing back-to-back men’s European Championship finals.
But elite clubs have helped to shape a radical transformation of the Champions League with more teams, additional games, and a more complex format.
Players’ unions have warned that their members are at “breaking point” as competitions grow – an issue acknowledged by the UEFA leader.
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‘Players don’t want to play more matches’
Mr Ceferin told Sky News: “There are too many matches, probably today, already.
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“The thing is that from one point of view, we have clubs saying we cannot afford paying the players and coaches anymore. They are in financial difficulties.
“From the other point of view, players, of course, don’t want to play more matches, but I think with these interesting matches, this will be a benefit for everyone.”
Image: Mr Ceferin told Sky News he would welcome Saudi sponsorship
Especially when the Champions League prize fund is soaring by almost 25% to €2.5bn (£2.1bn) – a welcome boost, according to Mr Ceferin, even for clubs in the wealthy Premier League.
“Practically all the clubs because of different reasons have some financial problems,” Mr Ceferin said.
“The calendar is full and it’s so full that nothing can change anymore,” Mr Ceferin said, not wanting to discuss the Club World Cup.
“I think we cannot play one more match, but for the rest, I think that everybody wants to win the European competitions.”
Europe will remain the place where Champions League finals are staged.
In his first interview after being elected in 2016, Mr Ceferin told me he was open to moving them abroad, but that is now no longer the case.
“We are not planning to host a Champions League out of Europe,” he said. “And it’s not about changing the system. It’s about the fact that the Champions League is a European competition, that fans deserve to have matches in Europe.”
Image: Newcastle fans celebrate the club’s Saudi takeover in 2021. Pic: Reuters
Saudi influence
There was a fear a year ago that Saudi Arabia could attempt to usurp European football but the spending spree has not been repeated by their clubs in this summer transfer window.
“I don’t think that the big spending or overspending of Saudi influenced much,” Mr Ceferin said.
“I know that some clubs even benefited from it because they sold players for a lot of money and anyway they wanted to sell them.
“I think [Saudi Arabia] understand now that they have to invest into infrastructure, into coaching, because they have very young people who are super talented for sure, and they have to develop their own players.
“If you buy players that are slowly finishing their career, this doesn’t help developing. But of course that’s not my problem.”
The Saudis are spending lavishly on sponsorship in football which UEFA would embrace.
“Every sponsorship is welcome,” Mr Ceferin said. “We distribute altogether 97% of all the money back to football and we redistribute 93.5% of all the club revenues to the clubs.
“For me, I would be super happy if we get even more sponsors, even bigger deals for broadcasting which will not be easy, but of course the co-operation with everyone is welcome.”
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A concern is meddling by politicians – a notable comment at a time as Sir Keir Starmer’s new administration plans legislation for the introduction of a regulator for English football, reviving Conservative plans.
Speaking generally ahead of the new European season, Mr Ceferin said: “In this crazy world where we have wars every day, we have a very tense situation.
“We have politics interfering into football quite a lot everywhere. But we are ready. We are ready. We are strong and I am positive.”
‘Too much anger’
And he has a message for England fans to be positive rather than complaining about the men’s team not winning a trophy since 1966 and losing the Euros finals in 2021 and again this July.
The next men’s Euros is being staged in Britain and Ireland with the final at Wembley in 2028.
“There’s too much anger in the society,” he said. “England reached the finals of the Euros. They were close to winning both.
“I thought that should be a success. That should be a huge success. I understand the disappointment because for a country like England or France or Spain, it’s always only the winning of the competition that is important.
“But still if I speak about the English national team, you have fantastic players. You have a chance to win it in 2028. It might even be sweeter to win at home – going home at home.”
Scientists are turning detective to work out what British dolphins are up to beneath the waves – by using forensic-style DNA techniques on their poo.
Conservationists have been studying the 250 or so bottlenose dolphins living in Cardigan Bay, west Wales, over many decades.
Up to now, they have only been able to observe the dolphins as they surface to breathe or play, identifying the animals from the unique marks on their dorsal fins to establish which animals were hanging out together and where.
Image: Dolphins in Cardigan Bay. Pic: Sarah Perry/WTSWW
But now for the first time scientists are using DNA excreted by the dolphins in their poo to build a more complete picture of their lives.
It allows them to identify the sex of individuals and how they are related to other animals. Signficantly, it also shows what the dolphins have been eating.
Image: Dolphin poo. Pic: Sarah Perry/WTSWW
Dr Sarah Perry, marine conservation manager at The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, said: “In order to be able to conserve them, we need to know why they’re here and a big a missing part of that is, what they’re feeding on.
“Is that changing at different times of the year? Are certain species of fish more important to them early on in the year, in the spring, and the summer months, and then does that change over the autumn and winter months?
“Are certain species important for younger animals? We don’t know that, so that kind of information, we need to find out.”
Image: Dr Sarah Perry
Catching dolphin poo involves a large element of luck.
The animals occasionally eject a cloud of waste material as they swim.
But it quickly sinks, so the scientists’ boat needs to be close enough for them to scoop it out of the sea with a fine-meshed net.
A sample is then sent to a lab at the University of Aberystwyth, where DNA is extracted for analysis.
Results so far suggest the dolphins are having to adapt to a change in fish species as the water warms.
Image: Dr Niall McKeown
Dr Niall McKeown, a marine biologist at the university, said: “We are seeing large amounts of sardine, sprat, and anchovy.
“This is quite interesting because these are species that are known to have increased in abundance in Welsh waters in recent years in response, we believe, to climate change.”
Image: Dr Niall analyses a sample
Scientists unsure why dolphin numbers are falling
But questions remain about the dolphins.
The number in Cardigan Bay seems to be falling, but scientists are not sure whether that’s a natural cycle or a response to other factors.
Boat noise and disturbance from some fishing activities, such as scallop dredging, could impact the animals, which rely on sound to communicate.
Dr Parry said: “How lucky are we to have such an important population of dolphins here? It’s crazy that we really don’t know that much about them.”
Sir Alan Bates has accused the government of presiding over a “quasi kangaroo court” for Post Office compensation.
Writing in The Sunday Times, the campaigner, who led a years-long effort for justice for sub-postmasters, revealed he had been given a “take it or leave it” offer that was less than half of his original claim.
“The sub-postmaster compensation schemes have been turned into quasi-kangaroo courts in which the Department for Business and Trade sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses,” he said.
“Claims are, and have been, knocked back on the basis that legally you would not be able to make them, or that the parameters of the scheme do not extend to certain items.”
More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as if money was missing from their accounts.
Many are still waiting for compensation despite the previous government saying those who had their convictions quashed were eligible for £600,000 payouts.
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‘It still gives me nightmares’
After the Post Office terminated his contract over a false shortfall in 2003, Sir Alan began seeking out other sub-postmasters and eventually took the Post Office to court.
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A group litigation order (GLO) scheme was set up to achieve redress for 555 claimants who took the Post Office to the High Court between 2017 and 2019.
Sir Alan, who was portrayed by actor Toby Jones in ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, has called for an independent body to be created to deliver compensation.
He added that promises the compensation schemes would be “non-legalistic” had turned out to be “worthless”.
It is understood around 80% of postmasters in Sir Alan’s group have accepted a full and final redress, or been paid most of their offer.
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‘Lives were destroyed’
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson told Sky News: “We pay tribute to all the postmasters who’ve suffered from this scandal, including Sir Alan for his tireless campaign for justice, and we have quadrupled the total amount paid to postmasters since entering government.
“We recognise there will be an absence of evidence given the length of time which has passed, and we therefore aim to give the benefit of the doubt to postmasters as far as possible.
“Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts, which is independent of the government.”
Sir Keir Starmer could decide to lift the two-child benefit cap in the autumn budget, amid further pressure from Nigel Farage to appeal to traditional Labour voters.
The Reform leader will use a speech this week to commit his party to scrapping the two-child cap, as well as reinstating winter fuel payments in full.
There are now mounting suggestions an easing of the controversial benefit restriction may be unveiled when the chancellor delivers the budget later this year.
According to The Observer, Sir Keir told cabinet ministers he wanted to axe the measure – and asked the Treasury to look for ways to fund the move.
The Financial Times reported it may be done by restoring the benefit to all pensioners, with the cash needed being clawed back from the wealthy through the tax system.
The payment was taken from more than 10 million pensioners this winter after it became means-tested, and its unpopularity was a big factor in Labour’s battering at recent elections.
Before Wednesday’s PMQs, the prime minister and chancellor had insisted there would be no U-turn.
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Will winter fuel U-turn happen?
Many Labour MPs have called for the government to do more to help the poorest in society, amid mounting concern over the impact of wider benefit reforms.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown this week told Sky News the two-child cap was “pretty discriminatory” and could be scrapped by raising money through a tax on the gambling industry.
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Brown questioned over winter fuel U-turn
Mr Farage, who believes Reform UK can win the next election, will this week accuse Sir Keir of being “out of touch with working people”.
In a speech first reported by The Sunday Telegraph, he is expected to say: “It’s going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of government.”