UEFA to launch its own streaming service: Ceferin

ROME – The Associated Press

The UEFA on Feb. 7 said it will launch its own streaming service to broadcast soccer games to more fans worldwide.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said the over-the-top (OTT) platform will start in the next six months.

Ceferin said UEFA is working with technology companies, like new commercial partner Alibaba, to develop ideas.

In his acceptance speech after being elected for four more years, Ceferin said he wants UEFA to be a "source of constructive ideas to FIFA instead of one of opposition."

Other key targets Ceferin has outlined for the next four years include a European bidder winning the 2030 World Cup hosting rights and updating financial fair play rules which monitor club finances.

The Slovenian lawyer was unopposed and will lead European football for four more years. His presidency began in September 2016.

Ceferin's first 2 years in office completed the mandate of predecessor Michel Platini, who has banned by the FIFA ethics committee for financial irregularities.

He said he will not be a "yes man" supporting FIFA's push for a $25 billion deal to create and revamp competitions.

With FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the audience, Ceferin said UEFA is showing respect for football by saying it disagrees with the world football body's proposal.

Infantino has spent the past year promoting the offer from private investors to revamp the Club World Cup and create a global Nations League tournament.

Ceferin has blocked the secretive plan in testy meetings of the FIFA Council, which will meet in Miami next month.

Ceferin said "it is often the yes man who lures leaders to their demise," and that respect means disagreeing with friends "when we think in all humility that they are wrong."

Earlier in his speech ahead of his unopposed re-election, Ceferin said he has had doubts and made mistakes since taking office in September 2016.

He also said he is working with European Club Association leader Andrea Agnelli to protect the Champions League from any breakaway threats.

"While we lead these two organizations there will be no Super League. It is a fact," he said.