Regan caused astonishment and anger in Athens yesterday when he voted for Aleksander Ceferin to replace the disgraced Michel Platini as UEFA’s new president.
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It’s unclear which way those individuals voted but Regan clearly arrived in the Greek capital on Tuesday night with a mandate to offer Scottish support to 48-year-old lawyer Ceferin, who beat the far more experienced van Praag by 42 votes to 13.
He was also quickly backed by larger countries including Italy, France, Germany and Russian Federation. “I think the situation can be resolved”. “About everything else, we will have to sit down and see what is the agreement and what we can do in future”.
“If you always talk loudly to be a leader, you are probably not one”, he said. That is exactly what I want to change.
The Dutchman, who said publicly that he would try to unpick the deal if he won and accused the clubs of putting a gun to Uefa’s head, insisted afterwards that he had not been present when the final details were agreed.
He later took over the management of the company from his father, and says the success of the practice means he has not had to enter football politics for financial gain or to enhance his own reputation.
“You are going to continue this lovely mission without me, for reasons that I do not wish to come back on”.
While van Praag was crystal clear on his priority policy to scrap the impending Champions League changes, Ceferin remained a great deal more cagey.
Van Praag had called for a new look at a UEFA reform announced last week under which England, Germany, Italy and Spain will be guaranteed four places in the Champions League from 2018.
“It’s a great honor but at the same time a great responsibility”, said Ceferin, President of the Football Association of Slovenia since 2011, speaking to delegates after the election. There is one football. Its president Reinhard Grindel said Ceferin’s win was “a good result”.
Ceferin said UEFA should show the clubs “we are the ones who are the governing body”.
“The most important thing is to give that leadership back to UEFA that clearly we have not had since Michel Platini had to step down previous year”, UEFA vice president David Gill said.
“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 said.
Before then, without detailing the specifics of the wrongdoing, Platini insisted there was nothing improper about taking a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) from Federation Internationale de Football Association in 2011.
Aleksander Ceferin was elected as the new president of UEFA and he has promised to stand up to big clubs. He officially resigned in May.
“Thank you for the great support”.
Platini was allowed by Federation Internationale de Football Association to address the Extraordinary Uefa Congress and he used the occasion to maintain his innocence.
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini banned from football activities.
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