Aleksandar Čeferin wants to retain the post of UEFA president after his term expires in 2027

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) may soon face a rather serious administrative crisis. It is connected with the plans of the structure’s president, Aleksandar Čeferin, to retain his post after 2027, when his term of office expires, by amending the structure’s charter. This idea is opposed by a group of functionaries led by former Manchester United chief executive David Gill.

The Daily Mail and the BBC reported on the brewing conflict within the Union of European Football Associations. According to them, it is connected with the “shocking proposal” made last week during a meeting of the UEFA executive committee in Hamburg to its members by the structure’s president, Aleksander Čeferin. Mr. Čeferin announced plans to extend his powers, which expire in 2027, by changing a clause in the charter for this purpose, which he himself lobbied for.

The Slovenian lawyer headed UEFA seven years ago. Circumstances helped him take the prestigious post in September 2016. The corruption crisis raging in football swept away almost the entire top of its establishment, including the enormously popular head of UEFA Michel Platini, whose place was taken by Aleksandar Čeferin, who immediately put into practice several election promises aimed at democratizing the management of the organization. One of them was to reduce the maximum length of time a president could serve. Before Mr. Čeferin arrived, it consisted of four four-year terms. At the initiative of the Slovenian, the term limit became stricter – only three.

Aleksandar Čeferin quite quickly managed to make his way from a rather “second-tier” official to a figure with enormous weight in the football community. And the most convincing evidence of his authority can be considered recent events dating back to the current decade. In 2021, UEFA managed to cope with, apparently, the most serious attack on its position in history, which was carried out by leading European clubs who were trying to create a structure that was actually an alternative to the Champions League. The project was blocked, despite the participation of prominent brands, large businessmen and well-known managers. And in the spring of this year, 56-year-old Alexander Čeferin was easily re-elected to the presidency without alternative. He was not hampered by the financial difficulties that UEFA experienced caused by the coronavirus pandemic, nor by the questions that many experts had about Mr. Čeferin’s next package of reforms: we are talking, for example, about reformatting the European cup system and, most importantly, the Champions League.

The April elections were just the third for Alexander Čeferin, that is, according to the updated charter, the last. However, according to British media resources, Mr. Ceferin decided that he could run again and serve another four-year term – until 2031.

The reason for the birth of this idea was the fact that the very first elections of the Slovenian due to the resignation of Michel Platini were extraordinary, and the very first term was incomplete. Aleksandr Čeferin decided to “reset” it, as it were. True, this idea still requires that it be formally recorded in the charter, with adjustments made to it at the UEFA Congress. It will take place next February in Paris. According to the Daily Mail and the BBC, Aleksander Čeferin’s idea was to “hide” it among two dozen other possible and extremely minor changes, the discussion of which is on the agenda of the Paris congress.

Meanwhile, for a proposal to pass, it needs approval by two-thirds of the delegates. Delegates are 55 representatives of national federations that are members of UEFA. Thus, at least 19 votes are needed to block an idea.

At the same time, Aleksandr Čeferin’s supporters, most of whom are officials from Eastern Europe, according to publication sources, have already faced fierce opposition. The “opposition” is led by Briton David Gill, who argued with the Slovenian during the Hamburg executive committee. Mr. Gill, who called the proposal to “reset” Mr. Ceferin’s first term “undemocratic,” is a top-level football functionary with extensive experience. He worked for a long time as the executive director of Manchester United under the legendary coach Alex Ferguson, headed the Football Association of England, was vice-president of the International Football Federation, and now has the same status in UEFA.

Aleksandar Čeferin is not the first sports director of the highest rank who, in recent months, has been associated with the topic of prolonging his powers contrary to the regulations. In October, it became known about the initiative of a number of members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to extend the mandate of its current head, Thomas Bach, which expires in 2025. In order to bring it to life, it will be necessary to change the clause of the Olympic Charter limiting the maximum term of office of the President to 12 years, adopted on the initiative of Jacques Rogge, the German predecessor as President of the IOC.

Alexey Dospehov