Čeferin’s alternative truth

At the press conference following today’s UEFA Congress in Helsinki, Aleksander Čeferin blatantly denied he’s the Chairman of the Organization Committee of FIFA Competitions. But Josimar can reveal that the UEFA President chaired a meeting of this committee, which is responsible for the World Cup 2018 in Russia, last week. By Håvard Melnæs and Pål Ødegård The UEFA Congress in Helsinki took place without any controversy. A reform of the statutes was unanimously passed, and all the speeches stressed the organization’s emphasis on ‘good governance’, ‘transparency’ and ‘change’. The only hint of confrontation came when UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin lambasted what he called ‘blackmail’ by the European superclubs after threats to break out of UEFA and create their own super league. His speech received applause from the delegates, who minutes later passed a motion to invite two representatives from the European Club Association onto UEFA’s Executive Committee. Then they voted on which delegates were to sit on the influential Executive Committee. Sweden’s football federation President Karl-Erik Nilsson was among the candidates. The Swede got 50 out of 55 possible votes. As Josimar revealed in September last year, this was Nilsson’s reward for getting Čeferin elected by making the Nordic countries publish a statement supporting the Slovenian’s candidacy two months before he had even published his manifesto. One hour after the UEFA Congr...