Football
Father of the Champions League passes on at age 89
Lennart Johansson, who oversaw the introduction of the Champions League during a 17-year reign as president of European football’s governing body, has died.
He was 89. The Swedish Football Association said the former Uefa president died on Tuesday after a short illness, National Daily gathered.
“Lennart Johansson was our biggest international football leader of all time, no Swedish has had a similar influence on football in the world,” the Swedish FA’s president, Karl-Erik Nilsson, said on Wednesday. “He was deeply respected as Uefa president and vice president of Fifa, his leadership has aroused admiration worldwide.”
Johansson was elected to lead Uefa from 1990 to 2007 when he was beaten in the presidential election by Michel Platini. Johansson also served as vice president of Fifa but lost a divisive contest for the presidency to Sepp Blatter in 1998. Blatter rejected allegations of vote-buying, and the two never saw eye to eye after that.
Johansson said creating the Champions League to replace the European Cup was his proudest achievement at Uefa. It evolved into club football’s most lucrative and prestigious competition, with expansion that saw non-domestic champions given the entry.
-
Health1 week agoSenate hearing set to review research on COVID-19 vaccines, cancer concerns
-
Crime6 days agoLASU student dies after armed robbery attack
-
Featured6 days agoOsun APC counters Adeleke over security drone dispute, urges public to ignore allegations against Oyetola
-
Football7 days agoArsenal confirm departure of 15 players ahead of summer exit
-
Latest1 week ago2027: North will back Tinubu’s re-election bid, says ex-ACF Secretary-General
-
Comments and Issues1 week agoDay Ibori stormed Asaba for Oborevwori’s third anniversary
-
Politics6 days agoEmeka Ike reacts to alleged INEC-linked data breach
-
Politics6 days agoFour PDP reps from Bauchi defect to APM, cite internal party crisis