UNPOPULAR UEFA PRESIDENT ALEKSANDER CEFERIN BOOED BY CHELSEA FANS AT STAMFORD BRIDGE
By Richard Owusu
16th September, 2021
UNPOPULAR UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin booed by Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge as Thomas Tuchel, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Edouard Mendy are presented with awards
Chelsea fans let UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin know where he stands with them as he presented four Blues players with awards at Stamford Bridge.
Last season’s Champions League winners began their defence of the trophy on Tuesday night, hosting Zenit St. Petersburg in their opening group game of the competition.
GETTY
Two-time Champions League winners Chelsea began their defence against Zenit
Ceferin was in attendance and made his way onto the pitch pre-kick off to give Thomas Tuchel (Men’s Coach of the Year) Jorginho (Men’s Player of the Year) Edouard Mendy (Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year) and N’Golo Kante (Men’s Midfielder of the Year) their awards.
But he was roundly booed by the home support.
Chelsea's #UEFAawards winners were given a special pre-match presentation this evening
Ceferin’s role as UEFA president came under scrutiny as he had to fight off the failed European Super League project, and is now in the midst of another battle.
The Slovenian has been pitted against FIFA and Arsene Wenger in recent weeks, with the federation putting forward plans for a World Cup every two years.
Ceferin appears to have come out on top on both issues, but he hasn’t been immune from criticism.
UEFA relaxed Financial Fair Play rulings this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to even more imbalance at the top of the game.
Ceferin has had a busy year fighting off the European Super League
The wages dished out by Paris Saint-Germain for Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi and Gini Wijnaldum would unlikely have been possible in the past, and many of Europe’s richest clubs have broken their transfer records.
Manchester City paid a Premier League record £100million for Jack Grealish from Aston Villa, while Chelsea dished out a club-record £97m for Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.
Stamford Bridge was in good voice after that awkward moment as Chelsea secured a 1-0 win over the Russian side, Romelu Lukaku heading in the winner.
Yeah good