UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin wants to change his association’s statutes in order to be able to stay in office longer. Zvonimir Boban has therefore announced his resignation as UEFA’s head of football – a crisis is looming for UEFA and Ceferin.
He has “no choice but to leave UEFA”, Boban wrote in a statement. The background is Ceferin’s plan to change the UEFA statutes. Ceferin was elected UEFA president in 2016. He successfully stood for re-election in 2019 and 2023. Ceferin himself pushed for the introduction of a three-term limit in 2017. Now he wants to change the statutes and have the congress in Paris decide on February 8th that the terms of office of officials in UEFA will not be counted if they began before the limitation was introduced – which applies to himself. The change to the statutes could keep him in office until 2031.
“Although I have expressed my deepest concern and complete disapproval, the UEFA President does not consider that the proposed changes create any legal, let alone moral or ethical problems.”said Boban. “He pursues his personal goals regardless.” UEFA spoke of a separation in a statement “by mutual agreement”.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin
Boban was very close to Ceferin – “he knows everything about him”
Boban came to UEFA in 2021. He stood by Ceferin in the biggest crises; in an Apple TV documentary about the founding of the Super League in 2021, Boban is shown as Ceferin’s passenger when the crisis broke out. “He knows everything about Ceferin”say UEFA circles, “They were very close.” The Croatian appeared publicly in interviews and statements on sports policy in the spirit of Ceferin – for example with the Super League, the two-year rhythm of the World Cup planned by FIFA or the discussion about the football rules. As a former world-class player, his word carried weight.
The position of “head of football” was introduced at UEFA just for him. Now Boban is turning his back on UEFA and Ceferin. He previously worked at FIFA from 2016 to 2019, most recently as Deputy Secretary General. In the associations he is considered to have strong opinions and yet be popular.
Escalation at a meeting of the Executive Committees in Hamburg
Ceferin’s leadership style is now viewed with suspicion in Europe’s football associations. There was satisfaction for a long time, but for months some association heads have been criticizing the behavior of UEFA President Ceferin as increasingly authoritarian. Ceferin’s approach to the re-admission of Russian youth teams is often cited as an example. At that time, Ceferin brought the vote onto the agenda at very short notice before a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee, to the surprise of senior UEFA employees and many officials in the Executive Committee, according to participants in the sports show meeting. The re-admission later failed due to objections from numerous associations, but the DFB agreed.
The conflict escalated in Hamburg as the UEFA Executive Committee met ahead of the group draw for Euro 2024 in Germany. The planned changes to the statutes were discussed there. According to information from Sportschau, the Englishman David Gill, treasurer of UEFA and member of the executive committee, spoke at the meeting and criticized the procedure as undemocratic. Gill himself could benefit from the regulation and stay in office longer. England is at the head of a group of associations that oppose Ceferin’s actions. The German Football Association (DFB) was asked to comment.
UEFA Treasurer David Gill from England
The office of UEFA President currently brings in 2.7 million francs
The statute changes planned for the congress in Paris were sent to the 55 national associations of UEFA on Wednesday (January 24, 2024). The 44-page document is available to the Sportschau. The changes stipulate that any terms that began before July 1, 2017 will not be counted toward term limits. Ceferin was elected to office at the Congress in Athens in 2016, with great support from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, but above all Russia pushed Ceferin’s application at the time.
If the UEFA Congress, the assembly of the 55 national associations including the DFB, approves the changes to the statutes, Ceferin could hold the office of president until 2031. Ceferin has not yet said whether he would make use of this option. The position currently earns him 2.7 million Swiss francs per year plus pension entitlements.
Ceferin in step with Gianni Infantino
If elected by 2031, Ceferin would be in office for 15 years – and would be in step with Gianni Infantino. The joint sports-political downfall of then FIFA President Sepp Blatter and then UEFA President Michel Platini made it possible for Infantino and Ceferin to be elected to their current positions in 2016. Like UEFA under Ceferin, FIFA also introduced term limits. However, FIFA’s statutes left a loophole in their wording, which Infantino took advantage of. During the World Cup in Qatar, he had the FIFA Council confirm that he would be allowed to run again in 2027 for a term that runs until 2031.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (l.) with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin
“These rules were intended to protect UEFA”, Boban wrote. She has been part of the for a long time “old system” of the football associations. “The reforms were a great achievement of football and of the UEFA president. His departure from these values is incomprehensible”said Boban. “I’m not trying to be some kind of hero. Especially since I’m not alone here with my thoughts.”