'You don't help yourself': UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin slams English clubs over Baku row

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has hit out at English clubs following criticism of the governing body's decision to hold the UEFA Europa League final in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku.

UEFA was widely criticized, particularly from England, over the decision to persist with Baku as the venue for the final. The location meant fans were left with a 5,500-mile round trip and a difficult route, with travel connections from the United Kingdom to the Azerbaijan capital hard to establish.

The difficulty in traveling to Baku from distance, logistical and financial standpoints, led to both clubs returning more than half of their 12,000-per-club ticket allocations for the match.

There were also additional issues regarding the choice of host city, with Arsenal's Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan opting to remain at home after UEFA were unable to sufficiently guarantee his safety in Azerbaijan, which is embroiled in diplomatic tension with his homeland.

Speaking at Oxford University on Friday, Ceferin took aim at English clubs for their attitude towards the choice of host city for the final.

"Whenever we have English clubs, whenever we have complaints, you don't help yourself in the popularity within European football with that," he said.

"If somebody asks me why we played in Baku, I would say: People live there, homo sapiens live there.

"If we have two Azerbaijani teams playing in London nobody would complain. They would come and play without any problems.

"We decided a year and a half ago that we play in Baku, which has a modern stadium of 70,000. I think there is only one stadium in England that is bigger.

"They had to watch the game at 11pm because of the time difference but nobody complained."

Baku has also been selected as one of the host cities for Euro 2020, and Ceferin stated his commitment to the city, despite the issues surrounding the UEFA Europa League final.

"We have to develop football everywhere, not England (and) Germany only," he added.

"We had 62,000 tickets in Madrid [for the Champions League final] and 980,000 requests. If we would play for example in Wembley we would have 30,000 more [tickets].

"Probably that as a top, top, top event should be played only at the top venues. But Europa League and everything else should be shared with the others who love football."