UEFA president Ceferin won’t seek re-election in 2027

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin delivers a speech during the 48th UEFA ordinary Congress held at the Maison de la Mutualite in Paris on February 8, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Aleksander Ceferin said Thursday he would not seek a fourth term as UEFA president in 2027 despite the approval of controversial reforms that would allow him to extend his mandate.

“I decided around six months ago that I’m not planning to run in 2027 anymore,” the 56-year-old Slovenian lawyer said at a press conference following the UEFA Congress in Paris.

“The reason is that after some time, every organisation needs fresh blood, but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now.”

Ceferin also said he was “tired of Covid, tired of two wars” and of plans for a rival Super League that he called a “nonsense project”.

His surprise announcement came shortly after UEFA member nations voted overwhelmingly in favour of a series of statute amendments, including a measure that would have let Ceferin potentially stay in his role until 2031.

“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,” said Ceferin, first elected in 2016 following the downfall of Frenchman Michel Platini.

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

The key amendment passed does not erase the three-term limit but stipulates that terms of office started or served before July 1, 2017, shall not be taken into account.

The rule was introduced by Ceferin that year as an anti-corruption move in the wake of the FIFA scandal. He said the need to change the existing legislation stemmed from the fact it had not been