UEFA President Ceferin to quit in 2027

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin shocked observers on Thursday by announcing that he intended to step down when his current term in office ends in 2027.

"I have decided, let's say around six months ago, that I'm not planning to run in 2027 anymore," Ceferin told reporters shortly after the UEFA Congress in Paris had concluded.

"The reason is that after some time, every organization needs fresh blood, but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now and I will be away for another three."

Championing the change

His announcement came shortly after the council had approved a series of changes in UEFA's statutes, one of which would have allowed the 56-year-old Slovenian to serve an additional four-year term. Based on the fact that in the run-up to the congress, Ceferin had been drumming up support for the amendment, including from Germany's DFB, most observers assumed he intended to stand for reelection in 2027.

The measure passed easily, with most of UEFA's 55 members voting in favor. Only the English FA voted against the change. Earlier, Norway and Iceland had joined England in voting against the proposal to vote on the package of amendments as a block. Ukraine abstained in both votes.

The amendment did not erase the three-term limit adopted after Ceferin first took office in 2016. What it did was to stipulate that the rule only applies to terms started on or after July 1, 2017 — effectively resetting Ceferin's start date to 2019. His announcement that he does not intend to stand for reelection has many wondering why amendments were submitted in the first place.

"I intentionally didn't want to disclose my thoughts before, because firstly, I wanted to see the real face of some people, and I saw it," Ceferin said.

"I didn't want to influence the Congress. I wanted them to decide (on the statutes) not knowing what I'm telling you today."

Prominent dissent

Despite the lopsided vote, the rule change is not without its critics. Last month, former Croatia and AC Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban, once one of Ceferin's closest confidantes, stepped down as UEFA's chief of football over the plan.

When Ceferin unveiled the proposal at a UEFA executive committee meeting in December, England's David Gill is understood to have slammed it as "undemocratic" and "not in the interests of football."

Two women required on ExCo

The change to the presidential term-limit rule overshadowed the other measures passed on Thursday. Among them was a requirement that UEFA's Executive Committee include at least two women going forward, something Ceferin also highlighted during his press conference.

"By the way, if you didn't know, we also added a female position, the changing of the statutes was also about the female position," Ceferin said.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding