VIENNA — UEFA has warned all the Champions League quarterfinal teams to stop their players harassing referees, secretary general Gianni Infantino said Monday. And Europe's governing body does not support extending video technology to catch mistakes made by referees, he added. UEFA's refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina warned Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Monaco, Paris Saint Germain, Porto and Real Madrid at a meeting Friday. The meeting at the UEFA headquarters at Nyon in Switzerland came the day after the ruling body banned Paris St-Germain's Ivorian defender Serge Aurier for three European matches for “insulting acts” toward the referee of the Champions League match against Chelsea.
Aurier did not play in the March 11 match which ended in a 2-2 draw, but made disparaging comments on Facebook about referee Bjorn Kuipers over his dismissal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
UEFA is concerned about the growing tendency of groups of players to surround referees after every controversial call. Infantino slammed what he called the “aggressive stance” of some players toward referees. “This is something that we don't accept, that we cannot accept and we are very clear about that,” he said.
“We also have to protect the referees and respect the referees,” added the UEFA official.
The association which represents European soccer's professional leagues is alone in its opposition to the settlement reached last week over the timing of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, UEFA said Monday.
FIFA confirmed Thursday that the tournament would be held in November and December, forcing the European club season to take a break.
Soccer's governing body also agreed to make a threefold increase in the amount it makes in so-called collaboration costs to all clubs who release players for the tournament, a move welcomed by the European Clubs' Association (ECA).
However, the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) association maintained its opposition and said Saturday it would back any legal action against FIFA regarding the scheduling of the tournament, traditionally held in June and July.
“I think they are pretty much alone in this stance, even amongst themselves they are pretty much divided,” Gianni Infantino, secretary general of European soccer's governing body UEFA, told reporters.
UEFA hikes Champions League prize money
Champions League and Europa League clubs will share more than 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in prize money from next season in a huge new boost to their coffers, UEFA announced Monday.
The Champions League treasure chest will rise from one billion euros now to 1.25 billion euros for the next three seasons. Europa League clubs will see their pot increased from 232 million euros to 380 million euros.
With extra “solidarity” payments, UEFA will give out a total of 2.24 billion euros each season from its Champions League and Europa League television and marketing revenues, general secretary Gianni Infantino said. Infantino told a press conference after a UEFA executive meeting that the amounts could be even higher as some contracts are still to be negotiated.
Currently each team in the Champions League receives a minimum of 8.6 million euros, boosted by performance bonuses such as one million euros for each win in the group stage up to 10.5 million for winning the final.
The winner of this year's final could get 37.4 million euros in all, plus a share from a 400 million euro television rights pool.
Infantino said full details of the new payments would be released at the European Club Association assembly in Stockholm next week. — Agencies
