‘No one will believe in fairness.’ Čeferin explains why he supports a ban on multi-ownership

The ban on multi-ownership within a single UEFA competition is a topic that regularly sparks heated debate. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has weighed in, making it clear he doesn’t think it’s a bad idea at all.

Details: According to the UEFA president, if two teams with the same owner face each other and the weaker side beats the reigning champion, no one will believe it was fair. That’s why such a decision is needed—to preserve the integrity of the competition.

• See also: Čeferin does not consider European league matches outside the continent to be a good idea

Quote: “This is one of the challenges we now face regularly. A total ban would mean pushing investors out of football. But allowing two clubs with the same owner to compete in the same tournament is unacceptable, because then the competition loses credibility. Football always has room for surprises, but if one owner’s team beats the champion, no one will believe it’s fair.

That’s why we handle such cases individually. Currently, a ‘blind trust’ scheme is used so the owner doesn’t have decisive influence. But we will not allow two clubs with the same majority owner to play in the same competition—otherwise, the tournament loses all its value,” Čeferin said in an interview with Politico.