21 March – UEFA president Michel Platini has hit back at Sepp Blatter’s criticism of his revolutionary plan for a pan-Continental 2020 European Championship, implying his FIFA counterpart has been disrespectful to UEFA’s national federations.
Blatter has gone on record as saying Euro 2020 will lack “heart and soul” but Platini counters it is in fact “innovative and visionary” and reminds the FIFA president that UEFA made its decision after consulting all 53 member nations.
In an interview with Germany’s Kicker Magazine, Platini said: “A few years ago, I launched a “Respect” campaign at UEFA. This is a word that has a particular meaning for me. Everyone has the right to an opinion on UEFA projects. What I can say about EURO 2020 is simply that there was lengthy consultation with all those concerned, and that in the end, 52 of the 53 UEFA member association presidents enthusiastically supported this new concept, which will make EURO 2020 the first EURO with shared responsibility and solidarity – an innovative and visionary project in the eyes of many.
“An attack on EURO 2020 may well be aimed at the UEFA President, but in fact, it is really an attack on 52 out of 53 European football associations.”
Although he said he got on “perfectly well” with Blatter even if they didn’t always agree, Platini, who is expected to run for FIFA president in 2015, was clearly irritated with Blatter’s barbs. “At UEFA, all our major projects, such as Euro 2020 or financial fair play, are the fruit of extensive dialogue and a collective decision taken by all those involved,” he said.
In January, UEFA rejected a large chunk of the FIFA anti-corruption reform package and put forward their own alternative list of proposals including the FIFA president serving a maximum of 12 years instead of eight. UEFA were accused of being too conservative and blocking modernist ideas but Platini – whose interview was published on the very day the FIFA executive committee were examining the reforms in detail – rejects accusations that UEFA have been obstructive.
“The Europeans are absolutely not opposed to these reforms. Ultimately, the European associations unanimously support over three-quarters of the reforms proposed by FIFA. It is ridiculous to accuse the European associations of being conservative because they themselves started this reform process and have also made numerous additional reform proposals. For example, they want people who have been convicted of corruption to be ineligible to stand at FIFA elections, and want better control and transparency of the inflow and outflow of financial payments.
“These are two concrete examples, and so we will see whether or not these proposals, like those already tabled and unanimously supported by all European football associations concerning integrity checks, age limits for all and limits on the number of terms of office of the president, will also be submitted to the FIFA Congress in Mauritius (in May) and effectively put into practice.”
Returning to Euro 2020, Platini confirmed again that it would be a one-off but admitted it would be tough for individual countries to stage the finals now that they have been expanded to 24 teams, starting in France in 2016.
“Germany, France, Italy, they can do it. It depends on the country, whether it’s wealthy enough to construct 12 stadia. Obviously there are only a few countries capable of this. This makes the new format so interesting and a good opportunity for some countries to build at least one new big stadium, a national stadium, to promote football there. We have spoken to fans, who were not very happy at the beginning. In the meantime they understand that it’s easier and cheaper to travel to capitals with low-cost airlines than to travel from Gdansk to Charkiv. This was complicated and expensive during the last EURO.”
UEFA is due to debate the selection criteria of the proposed 13 host cities at a meeting in Sofia next week. But Platini revealed that Turkey, originally the favourite to host 2020, won’t even get a sniff if it stages the Olympics the same summer.
“If Turkey will gain the right to host the Olympics, then they won’t host any EURO matches.” But conversely if the Olympic vote goes against them, Platini said, they would be strong contenders to hold the semifinals and finals. “If Turkey will not have the Olympics… I will then vote for Turkey as the host for the final three matches.”
Turning to the thorny issue of the 2022 World Cup, Platini repeated his stance that it must be played in winter and could be done by using the time normally allotted to European winter breaks. “In summer with 50 degrees it is impossible to play football. The football family can certainly adapt and decide that the biggest football event can be played at the best possible time for all in 2022.”
“You can halt the league season. And then it will just end a bit later. In Germany you have a winter break anyway. Maybe the English Premier League has a problem as they are playing during the Christmas period.”
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