The resignation of Zvonimir Boban as UEFA Director of Football could be the start of a major power struggle surrounding President Aleksander Ceferin. The Slovenian can be sure of the support of the DFB
The German Football Association (DFB) announced the following on request regarding Ceferin’s planned change to the statutes: “The DFB has been involved in the decision-making process in all instances to date and will approve the proposed change to the statutes. Also on the basis of the good cooperation with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.” The 56-year-old apparently wants to run again in 2027, but in the style of Gianni Infantino, this would counteract the governance reform carried out in 2017 and also strongly promoted by the DFB at the time
UEFA Legal Committee drafts amendment to the Statutes
Statutorily, Ceferin needs an amendment to the statutes, which will apparently be decided at the next UEFA Congress in Paris on February 8. Ceferin already worked out the matter with the Executive Committee at the last meeting of the body in Hamburg at the beginning of December. A UEFA legal committee, headed by the Dane Jesper Möller and including DFB Vice-President Ralph-Uwe Schaffert, had previously drawn up the proposal for the change to the statutes. “The UEFA Executive Committee followed this recommendation at its meeting in December 2023, but only the UEFA Congress can decide on it,” the DFB added.
Since 2017, the terms of office have actually been limited to three, i.e. a maximum of twelve years. Ceferin, who has been in office since 2016, now argues that his first term of office was not a full four-year term after he took over from Michael Platini, who was banned at the time. This is undisputed, but contradicts the spirit of the reforms. Boban had cited a conversation about this with Ceferin as the reason for his resignation in a salty statement
Gill opponents of an extension of office
The British daily newspaper “Independent” now writes of an impending civil war in UEFA. It also reports on officials who accuse the president of having a penchant for increasingly luxurious business trips. The Englishman David Gill, also UEFA treasurer and former vice-president, is considered an opponent of extending Ceferin’s term of office.
Rumanian Razvan Burleanu, who represents UEFA on the FIFA Council, is said to have already formed an alliance to establish the 39-year-old as a potential opponent to Ceferin. The DFB is represented on the UEFA Executive Committee by Vice-President Hans-Joachim Watzke, while President Bernd Neuendorf is a FIFA Council member and a member of the powerful body. It is now clear how the Germans will vote at the UEFA Congress, which is responsible for amending the statutes.
