The path would be clear for another term until 2031, but Aleksander Ceferin made a surprise announcement at the UEFA Congress that he would step down as president in 2027. During a guest speech, FIFA President Gianni Infantino called for a resolution in the fight against racism.
The Congress of the European Football Association paved the way on Thursday (February 8, 2024) and voted en bloc for several changes to the statutes. One of them would allow Ceferin to be re-elected in 2027 – then until 2031. However, at a media conference after the end of the congress, the Slovenian announced that he would not make use of the change and would step down in 2027.
“I am tired”
“I decided six months ago that I would not compete again,” the 56-year-old said in a prepared statement. After a certain time, every organization needs “fresh blood”. His family knew first, he could look in the mirror with peace of mind, said Ceferin. “I’m tired of Covid, tired of two wars, of nonsense projects like the so-called Super League.”
Ceferin has been in office since September 2016 and a term limit of twelve years is enshrined in the UEFA statutes.
Because Ceferin took over his first term in office from Michel Platini, who was banned at the time, this no longer counts after the adjustment on Thursday. The German Football Association supported the change in the statutes.
At the congress, only three out of 55 national associations voted against voting en bloc, with one abstention. As a result, there was no deeper debate about the statutes. The changes themselves were approved by a large majority, but the English association voted against them. He had already publicly criticized the plans.
UEFA counted on Swiss law
When making the requested change, UEFA primarily relied on a legal opinion according to which the previous wording of the statutes was not compatible with Swiss law. The umbrella organization is based in Nyon. Ceferin had not made any statements until Thursday as to whether he would run again in three years; he was confirmed in office by acclamation in 2023.
FIFA boss Infantino: “Racism is a crime”
During a guest speech, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced a resolution in the fight against racism. According to the 53-year-old Swiss, it should be adopted at the world association’s congress on May 17th in Bangkok. Teams whose fans or players are responsible for a game being abandoned should generally be considered losers.
“Racism is a crime, it cannot be accepted,” said Infantino, who has often expressed himself in a similar vein. Criminal charges are needed and perpetrators should be banned from stadiums worldwide.
Ceferin on Super League: “You can’t get enough”
Ceferin once again criticized the drivers behind the possible creation of the controversial Super League. “They can’t get enough. They don’t care if others get less and less. Some people think that everything can be bought and everything is for sale. But they can’t buy 70 years of history.”
The sports ministers of the European Union see it similarly to the President of UEFA. They – with the exception of Spain – have spoken out against the Super League in a statement and called for the competitions’ “principles of openness” and “sporting merit” to be upheld.
Of the twelve Super League supporters, only two remain
Of the former twelve supporters of the Super League, only FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are currently left. Both, along with the sports marketing agency A22, are among the drivers of the new plans.
In December, a ruling by the European Court of Justice caused a stir, in which the monopoly positions of UEFA and the world association FIFA were classified as incompatible with European competition law. A22 is planning a new league system with 64 teams. According to Barcelona President Joan Laporta, the plans could be implemented soon.
Rummenigge officially eliminated
The former CEO of FC Bayern, Karl Heinz Rummenigge, has officially been dismissed from the UEFA Executive Committee. The 68-year-old’s term of office ended on Thursday in Paris, and the Congress of the European Football Union confirmed Rummenigge’s successor, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín. “Kalle, you are the one in football who impressed me the most,” said Ceferin. Rummenigge not only impressed him as a player, but “as a person, as a leader, as a charismatic.”
In 2021, Rummenigge was reappointed to the executive committee as a representative of the ECA club association, of which he had already been a member from 2016 to 2017. From 2008 to 2017 he was chairman of the ECA.