UEFA President Ceferin: There is no more freedom of speech in the West

The head of the Union of European Football Associations gave a long interview to the Slovenian publication Delo, in which he criticized the West, touched on the issue of Russia's admission and commented on the new format of the Champions League.

According to Ceferin, there is no longer freedom of speech in Europe.

"We are fed up with political correctness. Here in the Western world, freedom of speech no longer exists. You can no longer say what you think," he said.

Ceferin explained why UEFA's desire to return Russian U17 teams to tournaments has led to nothing.

"Our proposal was heavily attacked by mainstream politics, especially from the left. One of the presidents of the football associations was even forced to resign. The media started attacking UEFA and everyone backed down, saying: 'We would support this idea, but the governments will not allow it.' In fact, they did not allow children to communicate," the UEFA chief said.

He added that when a Russian child comes, for example, to Slovenia and hugs a Slovenian child, “then he will understand that we are not enemies.”

According to Ceferin, the new format of the Champions League is gathering mostly positive emotions and, in his opinion, 99 percent of people are happy with the changes that have been made.

"The tournament has become even more unpredictable, until the end of the last matches no one knew what would happen next. This is a success, as the Champions League ratings show. And the Europa League and Conference League are also successful now. Sponsors like that small clubs have the opportunity to participate in European Cups," he noted.