Small football countries criticize ‘elitism’ of loose-lipped UEFA boss

Just as players today must realize that nothing goes unnoticed on the field, football bigwigs must know that no spoken word will go unheard. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin was reminded of this when he was criticized by thirteen smaller countries participating in the World Cup. They read statements from Čeferin, who said that a larger tournament has meant that many matches have become “uninteresting”.

The World Cup was expanded from 32 to 48 participants for this edition, after having already been expanded from 24 to 32 for the 1998 tournament. When the Netherlands reached the finals in 1974 and 1978, only sixteen countries participated – three times as few as now.

The UEFA president made his objectionable statements during a press conference in Ljubljana, in his native Slovenia. “We have many matches that are completely uninteresting,” he said. “On the other hand, even small countries can participate and feel the atmosphere of the World Cup, which is a big event.”

Those smaller countries did not accept that. In a Sunday release joint statement the football associations of World Cup debutants Cape Verde, Curaçao and Uzbekistan, among others, expressed their “deep disappointment” about Čeferin’s statements. And: “For our countries there is no such thing as an unimportant World Cup match.” Some more established football countries, such as Morocco, Egypt and Senegal, also signed the declaration.

Elitism

“The suggestion that these matches are somehow less important is deeply disappointing and disregards the efforts, sacrifices and aspirations of players, coaches, clubs, football administrators and supporters around the world,” the countries also wrote.

The statement further said: “Behind every national team are entire communities and millions of people who see football as a source of pride, hope and solidarity. (…) Every match is meaningful to millions of people around the world.”

The statement concluded: “Football does not belong to a select group of countries. Its power comes from its universality.”

Čeferin has not yet responded to the statement.

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