The session could be critical in the context of the fight with FIFA over the biennial World Cup and the latest preparations for the World Cup in Qatar, which will be held from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
The leadership of the Croatian Football Federation has expressed interest in hosting a session of the Executive Board, and the Federation’s headquarters confirmed that UEFA accepts the proposal. Accordingly, the UEFA session will be held on September 21 in Hvar.
“We look forward to holding this session in Croatia and have the opportunity to explore your beautiful country further,” reads a letter signed by UEFA Secretary-General Theodore Theodoridis, quoted by the HNS website.
“I thank President Alexander Čeferin and the UEFA leadership for the great trust they have shown us. We are pleased with this decision because it confirms the excellent status that HNS enjoys in UEFA, and I am convinced that we will once again prove ourselves as excellent hosts and capable organizers of such events,” said HNS President Marijan Kustić.
The UEFA Executive Board last met in Croatia in 2013, when the session was hosted in Dubrovnik.
Gol.hr reports that HNS president Marijan Kustić and his right-hand man and Čeferin’s legal colleague Tomislav Svetina certainly did not accidentally throw Hvar on the table, which is an elite destination of Croatian tourism. Still, there is another important point in the whole story.
Well-known Slovenian lawyer and since September 2016 the leader of European football, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, will combine business and pleasure on Hvar.
Namely, Čeferin has been spending his summers on Hvar for many years. Moreover, he has a house in the small town of Zavala, approximately in the central part of the sunniest Croatian island, and on the south side.
Hvar locals already know him well. Čeferin has a beautifully decorated house about 200 meters from the sea, and tall palm trees were brought by truck and planted in the garden. From the home terrace, there is a fantastic view of the open sea, and in the immediate vicinity is a small vineyard that completes the experience.
The UEFA Executive Board has 20 members, among them the former president of the HNS and still the top scorer of the Croatia national team – Davor Šuker.
Among the most famous people in the Croatian public are Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, a legend of German football and Bayern, and the president of PSG Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Both are members of the UEFA IO as representatives of the European Club Association (ECA), while the famous Spaniard Javier Tebas represents the Europa League (EL).
All major football nations have their representatives among the members of the IO. Sixteen of them are elected by the UEFA Congress, two representatives are given by the ECA and one by the EL, and the UEFA President has a seat on the IO by the logic of things.
Gol.hr assumes that Dejan Savičević, President of the Montenegrin Football Federation and one of the six UEFA envoys to the FIFA Council, will also attend the session.
As the UEFA President can invite third parties to attend UEFA Executive Board meetings in an advisory capacity, we expect other well-known football names.
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