In September of last year, Ceferin refuted rumours that there had been negotiations about holding Champions League games outside of Europe. Ceferin also wants to “as soon as possible” impose a salary ceiling in European football. The UEFA President said that he wants to utilize the ever growing popularity of Football in the United States.
However during a Tuesday interview with the US publication Men In Blazers, he said that he thought the US was a “promising market for the future” and that there had been discussions about holding Uefa’s premier club competition there before the 2026 World Cup.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is thinking about the possibility of USA hosting the UCL final in 2026. This year's final Will be in Istanbul, 2024 London, 2025 Munich.
He is also unhappy about the VAR controversies , Especially the offside rule. pic.twitter.com/zpJVPXvasC— Criticalpundit (@criticalpundit) April 25, 2023
He mentioned the fact that 2026 could see the UEFA Champions Final take place at the United States of America the same year USA hosts the next edition of the FIFA World cup along with Canada and Mexico. Ceferin said that the people in the country are football freaks and the popularity of MLS, USA’s top-tier football league says it all.
“Football is extremely popular in United States these days. Americans are willing to pay for best and nothing for the less. So they will follow European football as basketball lovers in Europe follow NBA.” – Ceferin said.
According to his calculations, the finals of the UEFA Euro 2020 between England and Italy had a large share of viewership from the US as more people tuned into watch the continental final than the NBA finals.
The 55-year-old who is serving his 3rd term as the president of UEFA said that a well structured salary cap is crucial in order keep things in balance. “If the budgets go sky-high then our competitive balance is a problem. It’s not about the owners, it’s about the value of the competition, because if five clubs will always win then it doesn’t make sense any more.” – Ceferin concluded.
