UEFA President Alexander Ceferin has confirmed his decision to step down as UEFA President in 2027, LCSoccerHub Reports.
As per reports, Ceferin would have re-contested for a record-breaking fourth term that would have extended his tenure as UEFA President to 2031 but he has chosen to step down.
Announcing his decision to quit in 2027, Ceferin said;
‘The reason is that after some time every organization needs fresh blood, but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now.
‘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.’
His decision has been partially linked to the decision of the English FA to single-handedly veto an amendment to UEFA statutes that would have allowed Ceferin to contest for 4th term as UEFA President.
Ceferin was elected UEFA President in 2016 on a partial term as he completed the tenure of former President Michel Platini.
All UEFA Presidents are limited to a maximum of three terms of four years each. Alexander Ceferin will be done with his two-term limit in 2027, including a partial three-year reign from 2016 to 2019 which he took over from Platini.
Instead of doing his 12-year maximum of three terms, Ceferin will now be doing 11 years of two full tenures and a partial one tenure of three years.
As per Daily Mail, 49 of 55 UEFA member FAs voted for amendments to UEFA statutes to have Ceferin do an additional one more term after 2027 since he did only a partial three-year term at the start of 2016. The decision would have made it an unprecedented 15-year reign for Ceferin as UEFA President. The proponents of the decision for Ceferin to continue are said to be favorably disposed to some of Ceferin’s broad policies which include increasing the representation of women in the UEFA Executive Committee.
England FA are said to be the sole FA that vetoed the amendments as a matter of principle not as a vote against the continuation of Ceferin as UEFA President.
Ceferin announced his decision to quit in 2027 citing the need to promote more gender equality in European football.
