UEFA’s Ceferin losing sleep over COVID-19 cost

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin says he is having sleepless nights due to the COVID-19 pandemic with European soccer’s governing body set to lose “millions and millions” of dollars after the season came to a halt.

European leagues and UEFA competitions have either been suspended since March or had their seasons cut short due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

While the German Bundesliga resumed over the weekend, it is unclear when, or if, other major top flight leagues will restart, with the season set to spill over into August when the 2020-21 campaign is set to kick off.

“There is so much information (to take in) and so many calendar issues. So many millions and millions, dozens of millions of dollars, that we will lose,” Ceferin told the Guardian here

“It’s then hard to fall asleep at night. You would be quite irresponsible if you could fall asleep immediately.

“The situation for UEFA is not that alarming, we’re not in a dangerous situation, but we still care about the clubs and the leagues and the stakeholders so it is a lot of work.”

Ceferin said he did not expect football to change once the situation returns to normal but added that Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations could be adapted to the “new times”.

“If they don’t follow the rules they will always be sanctioned, but of course we’re thinking about how we can improve our regulations,” he said.

“This will not happen very soon but we’re thinking of improving (FFP), modernising it and doing something more about the competitive balance. We’re also considering some sort of ‘luxury tax’, if it’s possible.”