Aleksander Ceferin Elected as the New UEFA President

(Image credit: The Guardian)

48-year-old Slovenian lawyer becomes the new UEFA president – the seventh since the inception of European football’s governing body.

Aleksander Ceferin was announced as the new UEFA President after Europe’s member associations showed massive support for his candidacy with 42 votes, while Michael van Praag – president of the Dutch FA – received only 13 votes in his efforts to become the new head of European football.

“It was my decision to run for presidency. When I have seen there was so much support, it was much easier. For a new face to come to lead UEFA, it was the right time now,” said the new UEFA President.

At 48 years of age (born October 13, 1967), Ceferin assumes the role as the youngest-ever president of European football, as all of his predecessors were over the age of 50 – one of them being close to 70 – when they took over UEFA.

When suggestions were brought forward about him being a relative unknown persona in footballing circles, Ceferin was quick to dismiss that idea, “I was never behind the scenes. You should ask somebody behind the scenes. People trust me. Nobody behind the scenes can have 42 votes from all parts of Europe.”

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The new UEFA President outlined his intention to work more alongside smaller federations that have been struggling against the tide of bigger nations that enjoy greater support from the footballing community in Europe.

“Some people may have said I’m not a leader. You can say that I’m young and inexperienced but I honestly think it’s disrespectful to all the presidents of small-and-medium-sized federations who every year have to do more with less,” said the Slovenian lawyer. “What I know is that I’m a team player, a man of conviction, a passionate man and a man of his word. I am not a showman and I’m not a man of unrealistic promises.”

He now becomes the seventh president, after Ebbe Schwartz (Denmark), Gustav Wiederkehr (Switzerland), Italy (Artemio Franchi), Jacques Georges (France), Lennart Johansson (Sweden) and Michel Platini (France). In addition to the aforementioned former heads of UEFA, there were also two acting presidents in the history of the association: Sandor Barcs (Hungary) and Angel Maria Villar (Spain).

Before being elected as the new UEFA President, Ceferin served as the President of the Slovenian FA for half-a-decade, between 2011 and 2016. Despite the perceived lack of experience at the highest level of football administration, he has held direct ties with UEFA since 2011, serving as the second and third vice-chairman of the UEFA Legal Committee.

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