“Michael van Praag had seven years the chance to give a lot of reform ideas in his work in the executive committee and he did not”.
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Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin has been elected as the new president of UEFA, European football’s governing body. My small and lovely Slovenia is very proud of it, and I hope that one day you will also be proud of me’, he said as takes on the remainder of Michel Platini’s term of office, until 2019.
Ceferin will now complete the remaining three-year term of Platini, who is currently serving a four-year ban for breaching FIFA’s Code of Ethics.
“Today, democracy has spoken”.
Platini, whose initial six-year suspension was reduced to four, was granted permission to address UEFA’s Congress in Athens on Wednesday in a farewell speech. “It is what I promise to all of you today”. “I am certain not to have made any mistake and I will continue to fight this in the courts”.
UEFA was forced to call the special election after Platini was banned by FIFA’s ethics judge last October for taking a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) from the global governing body in 2011. Platini assured UEFA delegates he has a “clear conscience” over the legitimacy of the 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) he received from Federation Internationale de Football Association in 2011 that led to his downfall four years later.
That settlement saw the number of guaranteed Champions League group-stage places for Europe’s strongest leagues – the Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League and Serie A – go from 11 to 16, half of the total, with radical changes also proposed for how the money is allocated.
“People trust me and nobody behind the scenes can have 42 votes”, he said. “I want to thank everyone in this room who had the courage and loyalty to support me during the past months”.
Former UEFA President Michel Platini delivers his farewell speech.
“I think it was in Italy that Aleksander took to the floor and said “we are not enemies”.
After the Scandinavian call, Ceferin could not turn back and says he has even paid for nearly one hundred flights to lobby for support with national associations. “There is a new wave at UEFA whereby the delegates feel that, now that we have closed a chapter with Platini, we don’t want a continuation of the old but something new”.
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“ECA wishes him all the best for his upcoming challenges in representing the interests of European football at the highest level”.
