BASELOne prominent person has been absent from the crowded venues of the Women’s European Championship in Switzerland: UEFA President Alexander Ceferin.
Ceferin hasn’t been spotted at any games since attending the July 2 opening ceremony match between Switzerland and Norway. He is anticipated to attend the England vs. Spain final on Sunday, though.
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At an event that has smashed attendance records and produced thrilling matches, soccer authorities have privately discussed Ceferin’s absence from UEFA’s primary event for women, which is held every four years.
One soccer official told The Associated Press, “It’s a shame he hasn’t shown up.” The best football game of the year is being missed by him. Because it’s sensitive to criticize the UEFA president, the official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Elected leaders of international sports organizations, who have the power to choose competition host cities and nations and can affect upcoming elections, are rarely publicly criticized by stakeholders.
Multiple inquiries for information regarding Ceferin’s whereabouts were not answered by UEFA when his absence during the group stage became apparent. This week, UEFA verified that Ceferin had taken a holiday in Croatia, namely on the Adriatic Sea island of Korcula.
On Tuesday, a picture of Ceferin lounging with Croatian soccer players Mateo Kovacic and Luka Modric and tennis great Novak Djokovic went viral. A Slovenian media site characterized the picture as a rare summertime reunion of Balkan sports icons. When it was taken was unknown.
Just 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Ceferin’s office at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, England defeated Italy in a thrilling semifinal match in Geneva on the day it was circulated.
Keira Walsh, a midfielder, responded on Thursday that she concentrated only on playing when asked why the UEFA president hasn’t yet attended an England match.
Walsh stated in Zurich, “I don’t really know who’s at the game other than my family,” adding, “I think maybe he could come to some more games, maybe he couldn’t, I don’t know.”
Alexia Putellas, a Spanish player, claimed she was unaware of Ceferin’s absence.
Putellas remarked, “Well, he has missed some good games.” “Perhaps he has seen them on television. He must have watched them on television and experienced them firsthand. However, I have no idea, thus I don’t know.
The strategy of UEFA for women
Last year, UEFA announced a $1 billion, six-year plan to keep advancing women’s soccer across Europe.
In a preface to the Unstoppable strategy paper in October, the UEFA president stated that we must continue with the same fervor that has brought us this far as we embark on this exciting new age.
“We are still as committed to the cause as ever,” Ceferin wrote.
However, that dedication hasn’t resulted in a physical presence at the Swiss event.
According to images from The AP and other media, the head of UEFA attended at least nine games during the men’s Euro 2024 in Germany last year.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s brief absence from the month-long 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand has garnered more notice than his absence in Switzerland. After five days of games in New Zealand, Infantino took his family to Tahiti.
Infantino was held to that higher standard after he attended at least some of the 64 games at the men’s World Cup in Qatar and blasted European broadcasters for making rights bids that he claimed were disrespectfully low.
After returning to his home country of Switzerland from the Club World Cup, the recently redesigned international competition for men’s club soccer, which was hosted in the United States, the FIFA head also went to two quarterfinals at Euro 2025 last week. The FIFA president shared a picture from the July 18 match between Spain and Switzerland on Instagram.
Since 2016, the president
Since his initial triumph in 2016, Ceferin has been re-elected twice without facing any opposition, and women’s soccer has never dominated a UEFA presidential election.
Even though he promised to step down in 2027 following his most recent victory, it appears that enough of UEFA’s 55 member federations favor him to run again.
UEFA members also clarified the organization’s regulations on term limits for elected leaders on the February 2023 election day in Paris.
Thanks to those legislative amendments, Ceferin will be able to run again and serve a total of 15 years in a position that last year paid him 3.25 million Swiss francs ($4.08 million) from UEFA and $300,000 from FIFA as one of its vice presidents.
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https://apnews.com/hub/soccer AP soccer
