skip to main content

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin announces departure after current term

Aleksander Ceferin will not be staying on for a fourth UEFA term
Aleksander Ceferin will not be staying on for a fourth UEFA term

Aleksander Ceferin has announced he will not stand for a further term as UEFA president in 2027.

Changes to the UEFA statute which were approved at Thursday's Congress in Paris made a further term that would extend to 2031 possible, but Ceferin has now ruled that out.

"I decided six months ago that I would not run any more. 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," the Slovenian said at a press conference after the Congress.

"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.

"I have a beautiful life in football, I have a beautiful life outside of football as well."

England’s Football Association had been the only federation to vote against the change to the statutes during Congress, with its chief executive Mark Bullingham holding up a red card in opposition to it.

"On Article 69.3, we believe that it was always intended that a principle of three terms of four years should be a maximum period for any UEFA Exco member to serve," said an FA spokeswoman.

"We have recently implemented governance changes of our own and think it's important that we are consistent in our approach."

Ceferin became UEFA president in 2016, before being re-elected in 2019 and again in 2023.

Read Next