UEFA removed a Slovenian TV programme on Youtube because it allegedly violated broadcasting rights. But was the true reason, rather, that the programme in question heavily criticised Aleksander Čeferin’s reign as head of the Slovenian FA before becoming UEFA president?
By Pål Ødegård and Håvard Melnæs
VV Faktor is a TV show broadcast by the Slovenian channel TV3, and is also aired on their own Youtube channel the following day. The show usually covers two topics in a debate between two commentators and a host. On Wednesday the 6th of September the debate was about the poor results of the men’s national team under head coach Srečko Katanec. Qualification for the World Cup in Russia next year looks unlikely. Russia 2018 will be the fourth consecutive tournament Slovenia have missed out on since participating in the World Cup finals in 2010, where they narrowly failed to advance from the group stage under head coach Slaviša Stojanović, and their longest tournament-less streak since independence in 1991.
The panel on VV Faktor went on to discuss Aleksander Čeferin, who was elected as Slovenian FA (NZS) president in 2011, as part of the reason for the decline. On the programme Ivan Simič, Čeferin’s predecessor as Slovenian federation president, claimed Čeferin hired Katanec as part of his platform to get himself re-elected in 2013. He went on to say that Čeferin is the only one who can end his contract since the current NZS president Radenko Mijatović is regarded as a puppet of the UEFA president. According to Simič, Čeferin gave Katanec a contract which entitles the current national team coach to a huge settlement sum if his contract is terminated before it expires.
Dire financial straits
This brought the panel onto the economic situation of NZS, which is heavi...
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