UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin still sees some problems in the stands of European stadiums – for example with regard to discrimination. To combat them, he is calling for more help from politicians.
“Ninety-five percent of fans are people who love soccer,” Aleksander Ceferin said Friday during a roundtable discussion at the Frankfurt Book Fair. But he said there are also another “five percent idiots” in Europe’s stadiums who abuse the great attention given to soccer “to show their idiotic ideologies.” He wants to fight this with his federation, “but we need the help of governments,” Ceferin said.
The 56-year-old cited an incident during the European Championship qualifying match between Croatia and Latvia (5-0) for the problems that continue to exist in European stadiums. During the match in the Croatian port city of Rijeka, a banned flag of the former fascist Ustasha government had been visible in the area of Croatia supporters.
Ceferin: “Maybe it’s time to react differently “
“They have all been sent to prison by the government. Maybe it’s time to react differently against these idiots,” Ceferin said. UEFA itself had sanctioned the Croatian federation with a fine as well as a partial spectator exclusion for one match on probation.
According to Ceferin, the situation is completely different down on the pitch, where there is no discrimination: “Nobody asks you about your origin, religion, sexual orientation. On the pitch, if you’re not talented and fast enough, you can be the king’s son – you still don’t play. “
