French President Emmanuel Macron angered the head of European football on Tuesday by using a speech at a FIFA reception to denounce a proposal to transform the Champions League into a largely closed competition.
Macron's criticism at an opening event for the Women's World Cup was delivered in front of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who told The Associated Press it was "clear interference of politics in sports."
"The president's speech was a clear interference of politics in sports which surprised us very much."
"The important thing is that we will not allow politics to dictate us how we govern the sports. And since the president was mentioning solidarity, UEFA is the only football organization in Europe that distributes solidarity funds all over Europe. So we know well what solidarity means."
"We must defend our model, our clubs," Macron said, "and I think it's not a good idea to sacrifice the viability of our model for the benefit of some at the European level."
A look at talking points around the meetings: CHINESE BIDDING
"You look at the sponsors, and you look at the investment they have done."
AFRICAN CHAMPION CHALLENGE