Soccer Football - UEFA Congress - Maison de la Mutualite, Paris, France - February 8, 2024 UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin during the UEFA congress REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
(Reuters) -The head of European soccer's governing body UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, said on Thursday that he would not stand for re-election in 2027 for family reasons, even though an amendment had been passed allowing him to do so.
There had been a 12-year limit on the presidency, which Ceferin helped introduce, and he has been in power since taking over in 2016 from Michel Platini and was re-elected for a second term in 2019 and a third term last year.
The amendment to Article 69 would have meant that the first partial term Ceferin served after former France midfielder Platini resigned following a FIFA ban over ethics breaches, would not be counted within the three-year limit.
"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 another three years," the 56-year-old Slovenian told reporters after a UEFA congress in Paris.
"My family knew it first and then I told just some of my friends and colleagues," Ceferin added. "I didn't want to influence the Congress, I wanted them to decide not knowing what I am telling you today, because that's an honest decision."
The English Football Association was the only member to vote against the amendment at the Congress, and it had earlier tried to have a separate vote on the amendment rather than voting on all of the amendments together.
That move was unsuccessful, with only Norway and Iceland voting with the English FA.
Last month, UEFA's chief of football Zvonimir Boban left the body in protest against Ceferin's move to support changes in the statutes that would allow him to extend his term in office.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Alex Richardson, Andrew Cawthorne and Ken Ferris)
