The Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin was re-elected this Wednesday, unanimously and by acclamation, in Lisbon, for a third term as the UEFA presidency, for which he chose defense and football unity as flags.
“I want to thank you very much, from the bottom of my heart, [esta eleição] it means a lot to me. It is a great moment, but also a great responsibility, for football. I promise to do my best not to disappoint you. Thank you very, very much”, said the already re-elected Ceferin, during the 47th UEFA Congress, which is taking place in Lisbon.
At 55, the former president of the Slovenian Football Federation leaves behind a mandate in which he had to deal with a pandemic, a war between two European countries, the ambition of the most powerful clubs on the continent and the approval of changes in some competitions such as the Champions League and the Nations League.
Since he was elected in 2016, after the crisis unleashed by the corruption scandal involving the then UEFA leader, Michel Platini, the Slovenian has imposed himself with authority with actions and firm messages against what he considered “the selfishness” of the supporters of the Super League and the “condemnation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine”.
Faced with the war in Europe, Alexander Ceferin acted almost immediately, moving the ‘Champions’ final from Saint Petersburg to Paris less than 24 hours after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Three days later, he broke his contract with Gazprom, Russia’s largest energy company, which had sponsored UEFA since 2012, and excluded the Russian and Belarusian national teams, as well as clubs from both countries, from competitions.
Ceferin was a staunch opponent of FIFA’s idea of holding the World Cup every two years, calling the project “populist and destructive of football.”
In April 2021, the UEFA leader opposed the project to create a Super League, designed by 12 of the most powerful European clubs, who intended, despite the European body, to develop an elite competition.
The project ended up dying at its inception, with the withdrawal of most of the clubs involved hours after the announcement of the creation of the competition, highly criticized by Ceferin, supporters, footballers, coaches, managers and political leaders.
“UEFA and football are united against the proposal that we have seen from some clubs in Europe that are moved by greed. All of society and governments are together against these cynical plans, which go against what football should be.” Sporting merit is fundamental and we will do it”. never let that change,” Ceferin said at the time.
The European body advanced in the disciplinary proceedings against Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus, within the framework of the Super League project for “potential violation of the legal framework” of European football, and admonished the rest of the clubs, which prematurely abandoned the proposal.
Nine clubs – namely Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal, AC Milan and Inter Milan and Atlético Madrid – have agreed to a series of “reinstatement measures”, including waiving 5% of revenue of a season in European competitions. .
The Covid-19 pandemic, which paralyzed competitions for months, forced UEFA to postpone the 2020 Euro Cup, the organization of the Champions League finals in Lisbon and Porto, to 2021, and to open the ‘purse strings’ for support federations and clubs, with a total of more than 300 million euros.
Solidarity has been one of the banners of Ceferin’s tenure, with the UEFA Foundation providing financial aid to Ukraine and the victims of the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in February.
The commitment to women’s football and the defense of human rights have also marked Ceferin’s tenure, with UEFA launching the “Time for Action” project, which aims to reach 2.5 million players by 2024.
Born in Grosuplje, about 20 kilometers from the Slovenian capital, Aleksander Ceferin graduated in law, having represented various professional athletes and clubs.
Married and father of three daughters, Ceferin rose to the top of his country’s soccer federation in 2011.
The elections of September 14, 2016, precipitated by the Platini corruption scandal, made him the seventh president of UEFA.
Elected, in the extraordinary electoral congress, in Athens, with 42 votes in favour, against 13 for Dutchman Michael van Praag, he served a first term of two and a half years, which remained for the Frenchman.
In February 2019 he was, like today, the only candidate for the leadership of UEFA.
Source: TSF
