UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has reportedly found himself at the centre of a private jet scandal.
Ceferin, 57, has served as the chief of European football since 2016, with the Slovenian re-elected last year for a third term that runs until 2027.
He has overseen a chaotic time for the game and faced several challenges, including football’s battle for sustainability, which saw UEFA ask teams to limit their air travel at Euro 2024 as part of a climate change initiative.
However, in a report from The Times, it has been claimed that Ceferin and other senior UEFA figures made extensive use of a £20million private jet during the competition.
The report claims that Ceferin used the jet – which was a 12-seat Bombardier Challenger 64 plane – to travel between matches and also to take trips home to Ljubljana in Slovenia.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is reportedly at the centre of a private jet scandal
Ceferin (pictured with Spain’s Rodri) allegedly used a private jet to travel around Euro 2024 in the summer despite urging teams to reduce air travel as part of a climate change initiative
The Times reports that Ceferin also took three separate journeys to travel back to Ljubljana
The bombshell revelations come after UEFA’s sustainability report from the tournament showed that there was a 75 per cent decrease in flights for national teams compared to Euro 2016, while 90 per cent of staff at Euro 2024 moved around the country via public transport.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands suffered disruption ahead of their semi-final against England when they were stranded on a train platform due to a blockage on the line as they attempted to travel by rail.
Ceferin allegedly took 16 flights between June 15 and July 9, although one 14-minute journey between Dusseldorf and Dortmund on June 18 was disputed by a UEFA spokesperson.
Of the 15 other flights reported by The Times, 11 were reportedly journeys that lasted for less than an hour.
The 57-year-old took three separate flights back to Ljubljana during the tournament, including a trip from Munich after Romania’s clash with the Netherlands in the last-16 on July 2, with that journey taking 38 minutes. Ceferin had reportedly taken the jet from Frankfurt to Munich that morning.
On July 4 in a TV interview, Ceferin had then outlined his commitment to tackle climate change.
‘What is important is that we are clearly doing something terribly wrong with the planet,’ he had said.
A day later, Ceferin flew from Ljubljana to Stuttgart to take in Spain vs Germany, before the Slovenian then travelled to Dusseldorf that evening ahead of England vs Switzerland.
Ceferin (left) pictured next to Prince William at England’s quarter-final clash vs Switzerland
After Romania’s clash with the Netherlands in Munich, Ceferin (left) allegedly flew back to Slovenia, with that journey taking 38 minutes. He had flown in from Frankfurt that morning
The Netherlands suffered disruption ahead of their semi-final when they tried to travel via train
A UEFA spokesperson defended the claims to The Times, insisting that many of the flights ‘were planned and calculated in the tournament’s overall sustainability strategy’.
They also highlighted that an electric vehicle was used for several inter-city transfers during the tournament and pointed to the positive sustainability impact of Euro 2024 as a whole.
It was also claimed the jet was used by UEFA ‘solely for travel to German cities and Ljubljana’.
The claims come at a time when UEFA has promoted its new Carbon Footprint Calculator in recent months, something the body claims help to explain that: ‘Football is tackling this challenge (climate change) in a unified and strategic manner
‘We encourage all actors in the football ecosystem to embark on this strategic journey, and stand ready to support organisations in their efforts,’ an accompanying statement added.
