CEV President hails high-profile, productive talks following historic meeting with UEFA chief

On Tuesday, CEV President Roko Sikirić, CEV Vice-President Metod Ropret and Managing Director Vuk Karanović had a high-profile, historic meeting with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin at the home of European football in Nyon, Switzerland. 

It was a truly valuable opportunity to discuss a variety of areas of common interest as well as to strengthen the cooperation between the respective organisations, thereby emphasising the importance of a unified and shared approach to current challenges, such as the fragile and volatile geopolitical situation as well as the protection of the very unique, highly successful European sport model. To this extent, the parties agreed that sport can play a pivotal role in promoting inclusion, stability, and solidarity, thus helping build bridges in a more and more polarised world and society.    

“We also explored other areas of interest such as the current reshaping of our flagship competition, the CEV Volleyball Champions League Volley,” the CEV President said. “UEFA stressed their readiness to share their invaluable commercial knowhow as well as to support us in raising the level of the CEV Champions League technical delivery, as we work hard to increase its market appeal and value. As we revise its current format, learning from the UEFA experience will certainly be highly beneficial and a privilege for us all,” he continued. “I was enormously pleased with the high esteem in which the UEFA leadership regards our sport, especially when it comes to our ability to promote and deliver events of the same quality and profile for both men and women. This is something that did very much draw their attention, even more so knowing how much UEFA has been and is investing in order to grow women’s football at all levels.” 

The historic first such meeting was highly productive and allowed for the establishment of a more direct and unprecedented communication channel at this level.