European soccer governing body UEFA held its first executive committee meeting under the reigns of its new president, Aleksander Ceferin, on Thursday in Athens.
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Reinhard Grindel, the German federation president, viewed Ceferin’s election as a vote against the UEFA establishment, including Van Praag of the Netherlands.
“It’s a great honour but at the same time a great responsibility”, Čeferin, President of the Football Association of Slovenia since 2011, told delegates after the election.
“My small and attractive Slovenia is very proud about it and I hope one day you will also be very proud of me”, Ceferin told UEFA delegates after becoming taking the top post, according to ESPNFC.
His key pledges include term-mandate limitations for key Uefa executive, to battle match fixing and a more transparent bidding process for the Champions League finals and European Championships.
Representatives of the European Football Professional Leagues’ board criticised UEFA’s decision to alter the competition regulations for the Champions League, which included guaranteeing four group-stage places to the top-ranked leagues – now the Bundesliga, LaLiga, the Premier League and Serie A.
Platini recalled: “Simon Peres said “Jerusalem is a flame”, when he addressed our UEFA Congress in 2010″.
“Thank you for these nine years”.
“Losing is of course not nice, but I have to thank everybody for the open and clear campaign”, he said.
Despite Platini’s ban from all football-related activities, he was allowed to give an outgoing speech at the congress in Athens, in which he professed innocence.
Slovenian Ceferin said his organisation should show the clubs “we are the ones who are the governing body”. Van Praag said: “Alex and myself have the same goal, look at our programmes”.
“Either I want it or not, I will have to deal with it and that will be the first thing to deal with”. It’s a single sport which belongs to each and every one of us so I encourage you today to keep that fight going for the health of football.
“We have to speak and have dialogue with the clubs and I think it can be solved”.
“It is up to him but if he wants my assistance, but I of course offer it to him”.
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Disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini insists his conscience is clear and vowed to continue fighting to clear his name following a suspension in regards to a disloyal payment from former Federation Internationale de Football Association chief Sepp Blatter.
