In the corridors of European football, a decision long expected has finally been placed in the open. Aleksander Ceferin will seek another four-year term as UEFA president, reversing the plan he publicly announced in Paris two years ago to leave office in 2027.
Ceferin accepts call to stay
The 58-year-old Slovenian confirmed his intention during a meeting in Berlin with UEFA’s 55 member associations. The election congress is scheduled for 22 April.
Ceferin said he had accepted the request from the national associations to continue, arguing that UEFA still had important work ahead.
- He thanked the member associations for their trust.
- He said European football had endured exceptional challenges in recent years.
- His stated priority is to keep the European game united, strengthen the sport and leave UEFA prepared for the next generation.
- A further mandate would last four years.
Ceferin receives €3 million per year as UEFA president, in addition to €300,000 for his role as a FIFA vice-president.
From Paris farewell to Berlin reversal
His decision is a marked change from the UEFA Congress in Paris on 8 February 2024. Ceferin surprised delegates then by saying he did not intend to stand again, citing the years spent away from his family in Slovenia.
At that point, he said he was tired after seven years living apart from them and expected to remain away for another three years until 2027. Yet support for an extended presidency began to gather quickly afterwards.
National associations built momentum
Two groups of smaller and eastern European associations publicly backed Ceferin and the UEFA administration, creating a clear platform for a renewed candidacy.
- On 16 April 2024, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and Albania declared unanimous support for him.
- A later statement from Gibraltar, Montenegro, Andorra, Luxembourg, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Malta, Cyprus and San Marino offered unconditional backing for UEFA and its president.
The repeated endorsements made it increasingly clear that Ceferin’s original departure pledge was likely to be reconsidered.
PSG president added the clubs’ voice
Nasser al-Khelaifi, the Paris Saint-Germain president and head of the European Club Association, added the backing of the club game at the EFC general assembly in Copenhagen on 29 September.
With Ceferin in the room, Al-Khelaifi said the UEFA president was regularly contacted by clubs with their demands, joking that he called him more often than Ceferin’s wife. He praised Ceferin’s patience, support for clubs and willingness to defend football’s interests in difficult circumstances.
Speaking for more than 900 EFC clubs, Al-Khelaifi urged him to seek another term, saying European football needed leaders of his stature. The PSG chief is a close ally of Ceferin, and his public intervention became another significant signal ahead of the Berlin announcement.
A renewed mandate amid a wider power struggle
Ceferin’s main political risk is the appearance that he has abandoned a public promise and is holding on to office. The issue has particular weight given his long-running opposition to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is also seeking re-election on 18 March.
For Ceferin, however, the message from national associations and leading clubs has been consistent: the UEFA presidency is being presented not as an ending in 2027, but as unfinished business.
