Monday, July 12, 2021
Headwind for UEFA at home European championships
Germany “does not want to be blackmailed”
This European Football Championship was more political than ever. The pressure on UEFA is great. And it should stay that way. At the home European championships in three years’ time, Germany has announced government headwinds on controversial issues. They want to respect the association, but not allow themselves to be put under pressure.
The recently harshly criticized UEFA has to prepare for more government headwinds on controversial issues at the 2024 European Championship finals in Germany. Stephan Mayer, the parliamentary state secretary of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, made this clear. Mayer announced on Deutschlandfunk that he would “definitely not be blackmailed” by UEFA. You have to respect sports organizations like UEFA, said Mayer: “But it would be fatal if Western democracies allow themselves to be put under unnecessary pressure.”
This was done in the run-up to and during the final round. First, in spring, despite the corona pandemic, UEFA demanded a spectator guarantee from the hosts of the pan-European EM. For this reason, Munich was on the brink for a long time as a venue, Dublin and Bilbao were even sorted out because of their refusal. In addition, according to media reports, UEFA had threatened the final location in London to move the games to Budapest if more fans were not allowed. As a result, the British government allowed over 60,000 spectators for the semi-finals and the final.
Like numerous critics before, Mayer has no understanding of this approach. “It cannot be denied that the European Championship accelerated the infection rate in a very alarming way,” emphasized the CSU politician in no uncertain terms: “UEFA makes it a little easy when it passes the buck to the host countries.” UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin had denied a connection between the admission of spectators and increasing numbers of infections in several participating countries.
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