Italy's football infrastructure is terrible, says Uefa's Aleksander Ceferin
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin says it is time to do something about the terrible state of Italian football's infrastructure, rather than just having discussions. PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON - Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has described Italian soccer's infrastructure as terrible and by far the worst among Europe's top five leagues.
In an interview with SportMediaset published on May 6, Ceferin was asked about the San Siro Stadium's rejected bid to host the Champions League final and the ongoing discussions about plans for a new stadium in Milan.
"Italy's football infrastructure is a shame. You are one of the biggest footballing countries, you've won many World Cups, Euros, Champions Leagues. At the same time among the big countries you have by far the worst infrastructure," Ceferin said.
"To be honest, I'm a bit tired of these Italian discussions about infrastructure, because all we see is discussions," the Slovenian added.
"The clubs need help from the government, they need help from municipalities. Private investors will invest. It's time to do something, because the infrastructure is terrible."
Milan's San Siro is set to stage the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in February. Italy will co-host the 2032 men's European Championship with Turkey.
"I'm not worried yet (about the Euros). I think that now, the government has understood that it has to do something," Ceferin said.
"I have a lot of confidence in Gabriele Gravina, who is my first vice-president. He will do everything he can to close the gap." REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Jude Bellingham ‘special boy' despite ‘repulsive' behaviour, says Thomas Tuchel
LONDON – England manager Thomas Tuchel said that his own mother finds some of Jude Bellingham's antics 'repulsive' but he does not want to dim the Real Madrid star's fire. The German suffered his first defeat in four games as England boss on June 10 when Senegal became the first African side to ever beat the Three Lions in a 3-1 friendly win. Bellingham thought he had made it 2-2 late on at Nottingham Forest's City Ground only for the goal to be controversially disallowed before Senegal broke away for a third in stoppage time. Tuchel had to restrain the midfielder's protests at the decision at full-time and said it is a balancing act to retain the 21-year-old's fight without it bubbling over. 'Sometimes you see the rage, the hunger and the fire and it comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive, for example, for my mother when she sits in front of the TV,' said Tuchel in a wide-ranging interview with radio station talkSPORT on June 11. 'I see that but, in general, we are very happy to have him. He's a special boy.' Tuchel also dismissed suggestions England could be better off without Bellingham, who starred in the Three Lions' run to the Euro 2024 final. Instead, he called on Bellingham to inspire rather than intimidate his teammates. 'He has a certain something and brings an edge. It's needed if we want to achieve big things,' he added. 'It needs to be channelled towards the opponent, and not to intimidate teammates or be aggressive towards teammates or referees. He has the fire – I don't want to dim that, as that's his strength. 'But the fire comes also with some attribute that can intimidate teammates. Sometimes you see the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game. If he can channel this in the right way he has something that we need and that edge is hard to find.' Tuchel, who won the Champions League at Chelsea and league titles with French side Paris Saint-Germain and Germany's Bayern Munich, was hired with the task of ending England's wait for a major tournament victory since 1966. Under Gareth Southgate they reached the final of each of the last two Euros, plus a quarter-final and semi-final of the past two World Cups. Tuchel has a richly-talented squad to choose from but has so far failed to find the right blend in three underwhelming World Cup qualifying wins over Albania, Latvia and Andorra before the Senegal defeat. 'I already have an idea of what to do,' he added with one year to go to the 2026 World Cup. 'We did some experiments in the second camp, not everything was bad, we did some good things but the two games were not good enough. 'It was a good learning and it brings clarity. Each game is a learning situation and helps us mould the team and find solutions.' On a personal level, he suggested he is tempted to seek a contract extension as England manager beyond the 2026 World Cup up to the 2028 European Championship, despite his team drawing criticism for their recent poor performances. 'I will always be tempted to stay because I love the group and the opportunity, it's an honour to be England coach,' Tuchel added in his interview with talkSPORT. 'I can tell you that even after the disappointment yesterday (the Senegal defeat). 'If you ask me today, yes. I am enjoying it, I feel the support, trust and respect of people in the Football Association. I wanted a new challenge and environment.' AFP, REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Five of the stars missing at the Club World Cup
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is one of the star names to be missing at the Club World Cup. PHOTO: AFP Five of the stars missing at the Club World Cup BARCELONA – Fifa's inaugural expanded Club World Cup in the United States has US$1 billion of prize money on the line but will be missing some of the game's star names. Here are five players who will not be lighting up stadiums across the United States once it gets under way this weekend. 1. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) Liverpool finished as English champions, but like Spain's Barcelona and Italy's Napoli, will not be at the Club World Cup, because of the convoluted qualification process. That means Egyptian winger Salah, who broke the Premier League record for goal involvements, with 29 strikes and 18 assists, misses out. After a tiring season in which he faded in the latter months, he might not be too upset about a summer off. However it will be a shame that African football icon Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and others miss out on the chance of a potential rematch against their Champions League conquerors Paris Saint-Germain. Liverpool transfer target Florian Wirtz will also be absent, as his side Bayer Leverkusen did not qualify. 2. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) No player in world football this season has offered more excitement than Barcelona's 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal. The Spain winger has been in sensational form for his club this season and is one of the candidates to win the Ballon d'Or. His thrilling dribbling and penchant for the spectacular make him one of the biggest draws at the moment. He is often compared to former Barcelona great Lionel Messi, but because of the Spanish champions' absence, may have missed out on his only chance to face the Argentina star, who will be there with Inter Miami. Barcelona's Raphinha, midfield maestro Pedri and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski are others who will be missed. 3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr) Messi will also not go up against his long-time rival Ronaldo in the US. The Portuguese striker, 40, was reported to be looking for a way to play in the tournament. Fifa president Gianni Infantino had suggested Ronaldo might move from Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr to a team who had reached the event, saying that 'discussions' were being held over it. Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo, who won the Nations League with Portugal last weekend, indicated after the game, however, he was set to stay at Al Nassr. 'Some teams reached out to me,' the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star revealed on the eve of the Nations League final. 'Some made sense and others did not, but you can't try and do everything. You can't catch every ball.' 4. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) Champions League semi-finalists Arsenal are another team to miss out and after finishing the season trophyless, the Club World Cup would have been a chance to win some silverware. England international Saka's only club trophy, excluding the FA Community Shield, was an FA Cup win with Arsenal in 2020. Mikel Arteta's side showed this season they have improved to the point where they are in contention for major honours, including knocking out Real Madrid in the Champions League, but came up just short. For a player of his quality, who has spent six seasons playing regularly at the top level, Saka could do with expanding his medal collection. Arsenal will be disappointed to miss out on the prize money too, as they try to overhaul Liverpool and Manchester City, who have dominated the English game in recent seasons. 5. Neymar (Santos) Brazilian icon Neymar struggled with injury at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and returned to Santos in January 2025, hoping to get fit and firing ahead of next summer's World Cup. The 33-year-old forward, despite fading with age, is still one of the biggest names in the game and his absence is also a blow in a commercial sense. 'Neymar, what can I say about him? He's an outstanding player, who, for me, in my football cycle, is in the top three, with Cristiano and Messi,' said Brazil midfielder Casemiro. With organisers struggling to sell tickets, Neymar's presence would have been a boon. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Want more excitement from the NBA? Try the Korean broadcast
Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers defends the shot attempt by Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder during Game 3 of the NBA Finals. PHOTO: AFP Want more excitement from the NBA? Try the Korean broadcast NEW YORK – Game 1 of this year's NBA Finals had a spectacular finish, with the Indiana Pacers completing a 15-point comeback over the Oklahoma City Thunder to stun the crowd in Oklahoma City. The victory was punctuated by a near-miraculous buzzer-beater by Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers, who drained the winning shot with only 0.3 seconds left on the clock. It was a thrilling moment for any basketball fan. But few reacted with as much fervor as Kim Myung-jung and Park Se-woon. 'Amazing, Indiana, don't call a timeout!' Kim and Park, sportscasters and analysts for South Korea's SPOTV, had exclaimed in Korean just before the shot as Indiana grabbed a rebound and began to move the ball upcourt. 'Indiana, an underdog, faces a familiar situation – WAAAAAAAA! HALIBURTON! WOW!' Their over-the-top reaction the moment the shot went in, which culminated in full-blown screeching and wailing, was shared widely across social media in the hours after Indiana's win. American fans shared clips of the rhapsodic call, and the NBA posted an excerpt on Instagram. Commenters were quick to cite the passion and emotion of the South Korean announcers, with several saying the clip gets better with repeated listens. 'After the broadcast I was cleaning up the broadcast booth, and then I started getting calls from people around me and friends kept sending me messages,' Kim said in a phone interview about the response to the video. 'It started to get bigger, and there were threads, fan pages. And then it got out of control.' Kim, 42, has been a sportscaster with SPOTV, one of South Korea's top sports channels, since 2012. He also does commentary for Champions League football, Moto GP, and mixed martial arts fighting. But he has a particular affection for the NBA, in part because of his name, Myung-jung, which is often shortened to 'M.J.' as was the name Michael Jordan. 'It's a special initial,' Kim explained. 'I feel a lot of responsibility.' With their call of the buzzer-beater, Kim and Park have a chance to be remembered alongside the shot itself – an important footnote in sports history. 'Broadcasters are best remembered for how they call iconic moments like Haliburton's shot, which is funny, because it's not representative of the service they provide 99 per cent of the time,' said Jon Bois, the sportswriter and documentarian, who pointed out that most of the time they are doing more mundane tasks like tracking foul trouble and reeling off stats. 'But in the big moments, they don't offer us information, because they know we don't want it,' he added. 'We want communion, and it turns out you don't really need language for that.' A longtime fan of American sportscasters such as Mike Breen and Kevin Harlan, Kim said that he studies their work carefully as a model for his own. 'I watch and listen to their reaction, their voice tones, their signature lines,' he said. Over the 12 years he's been calling the NBA Finals, he has developed a signature line of his own, which in English translates to something like 'clean shot' with a pause on the first syllable for effect. 'Like, 'That shot was so fantastic, I can't even describe it',' he said. As for Kim's manic scream, he said that it is unique to him and not something you would expect to hear in most Korean broadcasting. 'People said my reaction seemed honest,' he said. 'I'm unique. But actually I don't know if it's that unique, because I always scream.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
