By Andrew Warshaw
September 14 – Not many people outside his inner circle had heard of Aleksander Ceferin until the Slovenian launched his candidacy for UEFA president. But everyone knows who he is now and the new kid on the block insists he is well capable of delivering the changes the organisation needs, not least revisiting the hugely divisive Champions League deal that favours a bunch of Europe’s top clubs.
At his first press conference as Michel Platini’s full-time successor, minutes after his stunning 42-13 victory over Michael van Praag, Ceferin was asked how he managed to come from nowhere to become arguably the second most important official in world football. The answer he said, was right place, right time.
Explaining his remarkable journey, Ceferin insisted he was his own man and that no-one “behind the scenes” had pushed him into it despite plenty of speculation from the cynics that he had friends in high places, that Russia had led an eastern bloc drive to manoeuvre him into the post and that FIFA boss Gianni Infantino had lent his tacit support.
“It was my decision to run but of course when I saw I had so much support it was much easier,” Ceferin responded. “For a new face to come and lead UEFA, obviously it was the right time.”
Now comes the hard part and Ceferin admitted that the Champions League debacle was “the first thing I have to deal with”.
“We were not informed properly. UEFA is a very strong organisation but it was without leadership for some time and that was a problem dealing with those things. We have to have dialogue. I’m confident the problems can be overcome.”
As for the suggestion that Infantino used his influence to persuade so many nations to vote for him, Ceferin was unequivocal in defence of his campaign tactics.
“I have known Gianni Infantiono since I became president of the Slovenia FA in 2011. He was a good general secretary of UEFA.
“Everything else concerning these elections was media imagination and some other people’s imagination. If you wanted to ask whether Gianni Infantino supported me then I hope so. All the stories about official support are a simple lie.”
“I was never operating behind the scenes. Obviously people trust me. Why they trust me you should ask them. Nobody operating only behind the scenes can have 42 votes from all parts of Europe.”
Further down the road, Ceferin says he will propose term limits for the UEFA president and executive committee member; recommend that only active members of national associations can apply for executive committee membership; and, perhaps most interestingly of all, establish a compliance committee to “take care of governance.”
Match-fixing is another big bugbear whilst financial fair play will be enforced more strongly, not to everyone’s satisfaction. “The gap between the rich and poor is wider and wider. There’s a lot of work to do.”
You can say that again.
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