Alexander Ceferin's unexpected reversal

Alexander Ceferin announced this Thursday that when this legislature ends, in 2027, he will not run for re-election.

The unexpected news came after the UEFA Congress approved in Paris an amendment to the statutes that allowed the Slovenian leader to circumvent the rules in order to run for a fourth term at the head of European football.

The new approved statutory rule no longer counts his first two and a half years in the presidency as a mandate, so Ceferin would not exceed the three mandates stipulated as a limit.

Ceferin entered the European chair in 2016, when the

He surpassed his predecessor, the Frenchman Michel Platini.

At that time, Ceferin himself was the promoter of those two and a half years being considered a mandate, which prevented him from running in 2027 as he had already completed the three established terms.

Strangely, after altering a rule that, in reality, only affected him, Ceferin surprised with his resignation to continue from 2027. “I'm tired.

We have suffered the covid, the Super League, the moral superiority of those who criticize us, of those who say that UEFA is divided.

I am happy and proud, I have been the captain of a ship that has sailed through the storm,” Ceferin explained with a tone between sour and resentful.

“I had been thinking about it for six or seven months.

I did not want to say it before so as not to alter the decision of the federations on the voted amendment.

Not everyone in football is like some clowns out there,” he added defiantly before the press.

The controversial amendment had created a schism in UEFA and a barrage of criticism of Ceferin.

The director of football, former Croatian player Zvomiro Boban, resigned last week for disagreeing with the statutory change.

In a letter sent to several European media, Boban expressed his disappointment at the change.

“I can't understand it and that's why I prefer to step aside.

I am no hero, in my opinion it is a disastrous decision and that is why I am leaving UEFA,” wrote a disappointed Boban.

Added to this were criticisms from the British and Nordic representatives.

In the circles of Congress in Paris there were those who pointed out that internally someone had made Ceferin see that perpetuating himself with a fourth term was not the most correct thing to do.

Ceferin reached the UEFA presidency in September 2016, driven by the wind of renewal that

promoted .

The Swiss Joseph Blatter fell as the boss of world football and with him he dragged Platini.

Ceferin, an unknown Slovenian lawyer, emerged as the ideal champion to end the old governance regime.

For the first time, a UEFA president was not promoted from the hard core of the system.

Ceferin had not been a member of the Executive Committee and came from a small federation in Eastern Europe, very far from the

power

Barely a year after taking office, and still imbued with that regenerationism that propelled him to the presidency of European football, Ceferin introduced into the UEFA statutes the point that was modified yesterday.

“The maximum is three terms, but I will set an example and say that these two and a half years are already a term for me,” Ceferin told the

in 2017.

Girona and Gil Marín

Among the modifications introduced there is another that goes against the innovative spirit of governance at UEFA.

A historical rule by which those over 70 years of age could not be members of the Executive Committee has been abolished.

Thus, the Portuguese Fernando Gomes and the Hungarian Sandor Csanyi, two of Ceferin's trusted men, remain in the executive body.

The measure would also benefit Pedro Rocha, if, as everything indicates, the septuagenarian Extremaduran president runs and wins the elections to the Spanish Football Federation.

There they will meet the owner of Atlético de Madrid, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, ratified this Thursday as a new member of the Executive Committee representing the Association of European Clubs (ECA).

The atmosphere in Congress was not only charged by the controversy over the new regulations, but also by the signs of life emitted by the Super League.

At his appearance, Ceferin shot at the disruptive project.

“They are trying to change this European model of football, despite their success.

They claim to be the saviors, when they try to dig his grave.

They play victims when they are nothing more than predators,” Ceferin warned.

This new frontal attack on the Super League came a day after 26 of the 27 member countries of the European Union signed a declaration against the new competition led by Florentino Pérez.

Only Spain refused to sign the letter.

The Higher Sports Council alleges that the matter is sub judice and also that the Spanish Government intended to introduce modifications to the text that were not admitted.

On the other hand, the general secretary, the Greek Theodore Theodoridis, appeared alongside Ceferin.

He was asked if a hypothetical participation in the Champions League by Manchester City and Girona would not break the regulations that prevent clubs with the same owner who owns more than 50% of both from participating in European competitions.

“If they are classified, it will have to be studied,” Theodoridis warned.

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