By Andrew Warshaw
August 8 – UEFA presidential candidate Aleksander Ceferin has issued his manifesto focussing on the need for Europe’s lesser-known clubs and countries to be given proper opportunities in major competitions.
In a move that will appeal to Europe’s have-nots, the Slovenian FA chief makes it clear he will not allow the giants of the sport to dictate the political landscape should he upset the odds-on in the three-man race on September 14.
In his 17-page manifesto entitled Creating the Perfect Balance, Ceferin says he will “defend the European sports model and make sure that UEFA competitions never become closed leagues or tournaments: clubs and national teams from each and every member association should have the opportunity to play in UEFA competitions including the UEFA Champions League and the Euro.”
Ceferin, who takes on Angel Maria Villar and Michael Van Praag in Athens next month, talks of “a process of evolution, as opposed to revolution” but stops short of providing any actual concrete plans for the future. “The most important task we face is to strike a balance between the different stakeholders and levels of football in Europe,” says the manifesto.
But there will be no room for outsiders in UEFA’s executive committee which under his leadership will include “only representatives active in their respective national associations” while one other crucial area Cefarin addresses is UEFA’s urgent need for greater governance saying he would introduce a new Compliance Committee “to further strengthen good governance principles” and term limits for UEFA’s top brass.
A lawyer by trade, Ceferin says: “Our objective should be to make UEfA the best sports organisation in the world by creating perfect balance.’’
To do this he outlines what is required as:
- “developing, promoting and protecting our sport like no other sports organisation ever has.
- being a role model in good governance and transparency.
- having the most registered players of all the sports in the world.
- creating the best grassroots programme in history.
- having the best ever social responsibility and sustainability programmes.
- having an ambitious diversity and gender equality programme.
- having the best solidarity programme ever and the fairest redistribution scheme possible.
- ensuring that sustainable revenue growth represents only part of our global strategy, and does not necessarily mean being the wealthiest sports organisation.
- being right at the cutting edge of the fight against corruption and match-fixing.
- being a role model for democracy, with the ideas of all 55 national associations taken into consideration.
- not only adhering strictly to national and international legislation, but also robustly protecting member associations from all forms of political interference.
- having the best medical and anti-doping programmes in place.
- not only doing all we can to protect the health of our players, but also taking care of their futures through an innovative career change programme.
- ensuring that football remains a sport that is accessible to everyone.
- having the respect of the fans, the sponsors, the broadcasters and all of our other stakeholders.”
Ceferin is a relatively unfamiliar face in football politics. In 2011 he was elected President of the Football Association of Slovenia, and his mandate was renewed for another four-year term in February 2015. He is the 2nd Vice-Chairman of the UEFA Legal Committee and a member of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
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