Alexander Ceferin, who was the only candidate, was re-elected by acclamation as UEFA President for a third four-year term at the body's Congress on Wednesday in Lisbon.
The Slovenian (55) took over as head of the European Confederation in 2016 after the suspension of Michel Platini and was reappointed in 2019.
A lawyer by training and little known on his arrival at the top of UEFA, the former boss of the Slovenian Federation (2011-2016) was able to impose himself, notably opposing head-on his counterpart from Fifa Gianni Infantino about the project, finally abandoned, of a World Cup every two years defended by the Swiss.
Crusade against the Super League
Above all, he was able to get out of the storm caused in 2021 by several major European clubs which had embarked on the adventure of a closed Super League.
The initial project was abandoned by its promoters but the battle is not yet over for UEFA.
Three clubs (Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin) continue to resist and have seized the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) denouncing an alleged abuse of a dominant position by UEFA.
The decision is expected in the coming weeks but the Advocate General of the CJEU, whose conclusions are frequently followed by the judges, issued in mid-December a first favorable opinion to the European Confederation.
A22 Sports Management, the company that promotes the Super League, also presented a new version of its project in early February, with a competition that wants to be more “open
”
, including “
several divisions
” and “
with 60 to 80 teams
”.
Shortly before his re-election, Ceferin harshly attacked the Super League from the podium of Congress.
"
Fortunately, shame never killed anyone," he said.
In a few months, the Super League has turned into a fable of Little Red Riding Hood.
It's the wolf who disguises himself as a grandmother to better devour you.
But no one is fooled.
»
Engaged in a phase of relaxation with Infantino, Ceferin now has a free hand to pursue his two major projects of the moment: the reform of financial fair play (with the introduction of a kind of ceiling on salaries, transfer indemnities and commissions paid to agents) and the new formula of the Champions League, which will increase from 32 to 36 teams from the 2024/25 season with a first phase organized in the form of a mini-championship.
The TV rights for this competition have already been awarded for the record sum of 15 billion euros over three years (2024-2027).
Ceferin has also recently raised the possibility of revising the rules on the fractional ownership of clubs which prohibit investors from owning several clubs participating in the same event.
