Van Praag, who ran in the race for the FIFA Presidency a year ago before withdrawing late on, was the first candidate to declare his intention to run and has already claimed he is not looking to stay in the job for long.
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Ceferin, 48, had a background in law before moving into football and beat off competition from 68-year-old Dutch candidate Michael van Praag to take charge of European football’s governing body following Platini’s public fall from grace.
Disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini insisted he had done nothing wrong and said his conscience was clear as he gave a farewell speech to European football’s governing body at their extraordinary Congress on Wednesday.
Platini’s suspension, which was lowered to four years from six, was in relation to a $2million (£1.3m) disloyal payment from former Federation Internationale de Football Association chief Sepp Blatter in 2011.
Van Praag also addressed the congress after the result was announced, and pledged to support Ceferin.
The French three-time Ballon d’Or victor protested his innocence in an address to the congress ahead of the election and claimed that his “conscience is clear” over the payment.
“The way I was received was very nice and I really cherish the nice talks, the intensive talks I had with various colleagues”.
The defeated candidate told PA Sport the negotiations took place with the ECA effectively holding a gun to UEFA’s head in the form of a breakaway super league, a threat that has been made before but this time was more real as talks with U.S. backers were progressing. I respect that, I want to thank the countries that supported me until the end, but I call on them to back Aleksander. “It is up to him, but if he wishes my assistance I am always there”. Ceferin’s immediate challenge is to heal the rifts created by the secret deal, which he opposes, to increase guaranteed Champions League places for clubs from the powerful leagues of England, Spain, Germany, and Italy.
“Be assured that I have a clear conscience, that I’m convinced I did not make the slightest mistake and that I’m continuing the legal battle”, Platini told the UEFA members.
Those fears, however, were not realised, as the vast majority of his speech was a florid eulogy of football’s “beauty” and “universality”, and praise for UEFA’s work under his leadership.
“You are going to continue this wonderful mission without me, for reasons that I won’t go into”, said Platini.
The sense that this really is the end of an era was immediately reinforced when new Federation Internationale de Football Association president Gianni Infantino, who had been Platini’s right-hand man at UEFA, made the next speech.
Platini, who left the stage to a smattering of applause, added: “I want to thank everyone in this room who had the courage and loyalty to support me during the past months”.
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World football has been rocked by various corruption scandals involving officials from UEFA and FIFA, and Ceferin has promised to get rid of the image of greed and secrecy garnered by the association. “A page is turning and this is a new chapter for UEFA”, he said. (…) Today, the wind of change is blowing through European football.
