Ceferin is to complete the term of banned former President Michel Platini.
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Mr van Praag, 68, likened himself to the “still rocking” Rolling Stones, saying his age was his “USP” and his experience his greatest asset.
An FA delegation led by Chairman Greg Clarke, Chief Executive Martin Glenn and Vice-Chairman David Gill joined 54 other European nations in Athens on Wednesday for the 12th Extraordinary UEFA Congress.
However the ethics committee, in a freaky ruling last week, had cleared Platini to give what was virtually a keynote speech at the address of congress.
“Thank you. Thank you for these nine years”.
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.
Meanwhile, the European Club Association congratulated Ceferin – who runs his own law firm in his native Slovenia – on his appointment as successor to the disgraced Platini, who is appealing a four-year footballing ban issued by FIFA over an alleged improper payment received in 2011.
The Frenchman, who resigned in May after being banned for from the sport for four years for ethics violations, was given a round of applause by the delegates but did not get a standing ovation.
Platini, 61, was past year banned from football activity for breaching ethics rules over a £1.3m “disloyal payment”.
Since 2005, Ceferin became a respected figure in the Slovenian football.
“He has been a very progressive and extremely innovative leader in his native Slovenia and his successful candidacy would be a very positive move for European football and the administration as a whole”.
“Some people may have said that I am not a leader, that I am too young and too inexperienced to become the next UEFA president”, said Ceferin. “It was without leadership for sometime and I think that in a way was a problem dealing with those things”, Ceferin said.
“If you want to ask if he supported me, I hope so”, Ceferin said.
Van Praag said: “Aleksander and I have the same goal”.
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“I would like to thank the countries that supported me from the beginning to the end and I call on them to stand behind Aleksander”. 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.
