UEFA Ready To Take Champions League To The World - UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin

 

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has said he is open to the idea of the Champions League final being played outside of Europe.  The Slovenian has also said he will revive an open bidding process to host the European club showpiece.

European football's governing body has hitherto awarded the honour of staging its finals without any tendering process, hosts being decided in secret by the UEFA hierarchy.

Ceferin said “To go from Portugal to Azerbaijan for example is almost the same as if you go to New York. For the fans it's no problem but we should see. It's a European competition so let's think about it. It might be an idea but we have to speak about it. The bidding process should be very clear because if you get the Champions League finals or Europa League finals as a political favour then it's not OK. With a clear bidding procedure I will protect also the administration and myself because whoever tries to call us, to push us, to ask us for such a favour we will have a clear answer, 'Sorry there are clear rules we cannot do it'.”

This season's Europa League final will take place at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on May 24 while the Champions League showpiece will be in Cardiff on 3 June 2017.