Spain and Italy hosted the Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia amid heavy investment in football, culminating in the 2034 World Cup. However, the Champions League final will not leave Europe.

The final of the Champions League will not be held in Saudi Arabia

UEFA President Alexander Ceferin said that he has no intention of organizing the final of the European Champions League in Saudi Arabia, DPA informs.

“Not during my term, but I won’t be here forever,” Ceferin said Wednesday at the Spobis business congress in Hamburg.

Recently, the Spanish and Italian soccer federations organized national Super Cups in Saudi Arabia, a country that has recently invested billions in the sport. In football, the Saudi Arabian League has attracted many top stars, including Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, offering them exorbitant salaries.

The 2034 FIFA World Cup is to be held in Saudi Arabia, which also hosts the Formula 1 race.

However, Ceferin does not see Saudi Arabia as a threat to European football. He believes that the strategy of transferring big football stars is not correct.

“If you buy mostly players who can no longer play in Europe and pay extra, are you still going to develop young players?

European fans do two things: they follow their team and they follow their national team. And I watch the competition, not the players,” said Ceferin.

Saudi Arabia has been heavily criticized for its human rights record, as well as for “sports laundering,” the use of sports to divert attention from domestic problems, Agerpres reports.

However, Saudi Arabia is the only candidate to host the 2034 World Cup and will be named the winner thanks to FIFA’s rotation policy, which sees only countries in Asia and Oceania eligible to host the competition that year.