UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has performed a stunning U-turn and will seek a fourth and final term in charge of European football, telling the presidents and general secretaries of UEFA's 55 national associations in Berlin on Thursday that he intends to stand for re-election.
The U-turn in Berlin
The Slovenian's announcement reverses a decision he made clear in 2024 that he would step down when his third term ends in 2027. Ceferin confirmed his intention to seek re-election at the 51st UEFA Ordinary Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan, on April 22, according to reports from Reuters.
"I want to thank the national associations for their trust," Ceferin said after Thursday's meeting. "We have faced extraordinary challenges over the past years, and we have faced them as one team. There is still important work ahead, and I have therefore accepted their request."
UEFA said the 55 national associations had "unanimously" asked Ceferin over recent months to reconsider his previous intention not to seek re-election.
The 58-year-old was first elected in 2016 to replace Michel Platini, who resigned after the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned him from football-related activities over a FIFA corruption case.
He is only able to stand again after controversial changes were made to presidential term limits in UEFA's statutes at the 2024 Congress in Paris, a move the English Football Association opposed. When those alterations were voted through, Ceferin insisted he would not take advantage of them, saying he had already made up his mind six months earlier to step away at the end of his third term. Two years on, he has changed his mind.
"My ambition remains the same: to keep European football united, make our game stronger and leave UEFA ready for the next generation," Ceferin said.
The battle with FIFA
The timing of the announcement is impossible to separate from UEFA's escalating confrontation with FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino. ESPN reports that a further four years of Ceferin brings certainty and unity to UEFA at a time when the European body is focused on robustly challenging Infantino's leadership of world football's governing body.
On Thursday, UEFA confirmed that all 55 national associations except Azerbaijan supported its FIFA reform proposals.
"The national associations reiterated that they have lost confidence in the current FIFA leadership," UEFA said in a statement. "Institutional reform will not, on its own, be enough. FIFA also needs new leadership: a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football, with the vision and experience to lead, the ability to command confidence across regions and an unequivocal commitment to development, reform, integrity and independence."
One of UEFA's proposals is that the FIFA president should "lead, not manage".
Ceferin has been vocal in his opposition to Infantino since it emerged in July that the Swiss was working on a plan to seek private investment in a company to manage the commercial interests of FIFA's tournaments, including the men's and women's World Cups.
Crucially, Ceferin's decision to stay at UEFA removes one of the highest-profile figures from the field of potential candidates who might have challenged Infantino for the FIFA presidency in March's election. The Slovenian said in August he would not stand against Infantino and has now doubled down by committing his future to European football.
What happens next
Former Switzerland defender Ramon Vega said on Wednesday he intends to stand in next year's FIFA election against compatriot Infantino, becoming the first person to publicly declare his intention to challenge the incumbent ahead of the November 18 nomination deadline.
With FIFA's election looming and UEFA openly demanding new leadership in Zurich, Ceferin's four-year extension through to 2031 positions him as the undisputed figurehead of the European opposition.
The formal re-election will take place at UEFA's congress in Astana on April 22, where Ceferin is expected to be returned unopposed after the unanimous backing of the member associations.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Aleksander Ceferin's dramatic U-turn guarantees stability at UEFA but sharpens the fault line running through world football. With a fourth term through to 2031 now all but certain, the Slovenian will lead Europe's challenge to Gianni Infantino's FIFA presidency from a position of renewed strength — and the March FIFA election suddenly looks like a battle between two entrenched power blocs. Can anyone break the stalemate at the top of world football? Tell us in the comments.
