- By Simon Stone
- ` Sport in Paris
February 8, 2024, 1:05 p.m. GMT
Updated 1 hour ago
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Aleksander Ceferin: UEFA President will not stand for re-election in 2027
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says he will not run for re-election in 2027.
This came after Uefa voted to change its rules that would have allowed the 56-year-old Slovenian to run again and potentially remain at the helm of European football's governing body until 2031.
The English Football Association (FA) was the only nation to speak out against the rule change at a UEFA congress in Paris.
The FA said leaders should serve a “maximum” of three four-year terms.
Previous rules allowed a president to serve three terms in office, but the new rule means Ceferin's first term, when he replaced Michel Platini in a four-year cycle in 2016, does not count as a full term.
Ceferin took over when Platini resigned in May 2016 after being banned by world football governing body Fifa for ethics violations.
Although a two-thirds majority of 49 nations voted to accept the motion, he later announced he would not run in 2027.
Ceferin said at a press conference: “I decided six months ago not to run again. The reason for this is that after a while every organization needs fresh blood, but mainly because I have been away from my family for seven years now.”
“I purposely didn't want to reveal my thoughts beforehand because, firstly, I wanted to see some people's true colors and I have seen it.”
Opponents of the motion – including FA chief executive Mark Bullingham – argued that the change contradicted Ceferin's promise to ensure cleaner governance at UEFA when he replaced Platini.
UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said Ceferin's decision not to inform national associations of his plans in advance was not an embarrassment for the FA.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “We have a democracy.”
The move is seen as controversial and Uefa's technical director Zvonimir Boban quit his role in January in protest at Ceferin's alleged intention to stay for another term, describing the move as “incomprehensible”.
Responding after his announcement, Ceferin said Boban was aware that he would not seek re-election and called his stance a “pathetic cry.”
“He couldn’t wait because after my revelation his whining would no longer make sense,” Ceferin added.
Further constitutional changes, including a requirement to have at least two female members on UEFA's executive committee, were also part of the motion and Bullingham, along with representatives from Norway and Iceland, had voted against the plan to “bundle” them.
The FA says it supported the other proposed statute changes, but that after passing the motion to combine them, it was forced to vote against them all.
“We requested and voted for the statute changes to be tabled separately, but this was not supported by a sufficient majority and we respect that,” an FA spokesman said.
“We believe it was always the intention that a principle of three four-year terms should be the maximum term of a UEFA Exco member.”
Analysis – Does FA stand by Uefa’s naughty move after voting stance?
The FA is showing courage where it has ended up, because it is of the opinion that it spoke out against the change to UEFA's statutes for fundamental reasons and that it would have remained that way even if it had known about Ceferin's intentions.
“I wanted to see the true colors of some people and I saw it,” Ceferin said after his announcement. In other words: who is for him and who is against him, who can be trusted and who cannot?
Apparently Zvonimir Boban belongs to the latter category, considering Ceferin's harsh rebuke of the Croatian and former close friend.
But are David Gill, who spoke out about the plans at a board meeting last year, and the FA now on the wrong track?
When it comes to scoring points and making an impact within UEFA circles, the FA may not be particularly well received.
In view of the spectacularly failed World Cup bid, England's football politicians appeared naive when it came to football politics. And the opposition to the legislative vote appears to be another example, as it has literally shown Congress the red card on this issue.
What no one can know is whether Ceferin will change his mind sometime between now and 2027 and decide to run again anyway, which he is now capable of doing.
All in all, it's probably a good job. Wembley has already been confirmed as the venue for this season's Champions League final and hosting rights for Euro 2028 have been agreed.
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