UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has announced that he will not be running for another term in 2027. He revealed that he made the decision six months ago, and only told a select few.

The Slovenian lawyer has been in charge since 2016, replacing Michel Platini in the middle of his term. The English FA was the only party that opposed a UEFA statute that would have allowed Ceferin to run for another term. However, he revealed that he wanted to see how people would react to him passing the statute before revealing that he would not be availing the opportunity.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin reveals he will not run in 2027

“I have met many great people in football and I will meet more,” Aleksander Ceferin said. “Be sure that [the] majority of people in football are not like some clowns. So I have decided, let’s say around six months ago, that I’m not planning to run in 2027 any more.

“The reason is that after some time every organisation [needs] fresh blood but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now, and I will be away from them for three more until 2027. My family knew it first.”

“I’m tired of Covid, I’m tired of two wars [and] the nonsense projects of the so-called Super League,” he said. “I’m also tired of self-proclaimed moral authorities who are moral just until it comes to their personal interests.”

The standard 12-year term rule will remain applicable for Ceferin. Moreover, his former chief of football Zvonimir Boban, who resigned from his post three weeks ago, was once his trusted ally. And while he didn’t name Boban, he did acknowledge his behaviour in his speech.