UEFA on Wednesday elects a new president after the banning of Michel Platini with Slovenian football leader Aleksander Ceferin the favourite to take on the task of easing tensions with Europe’s leading clubs.
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In his acceptance speech Ceferin said: “It’s a great honour but, at the same time, great responsibility”.
“I hope one day you will be proud of me too”.
Numerous smaller nations involved in Uefa backed Ceferin after plans emerged for changes to the flagship Champions League competition whih would allow more established clubs from bigger countries to gain more places.
UEFA increased the number of places allocated to clubs from Spain, England, Germany and Italy in the lucrative group stage and cut the slots for the smaller countries.
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.
He will succeed Frenchman Michel Platini, who quit his post after being banned from football for four years.
“I am continuing to fight legally”.
“Like Infantino, Ceferin has risen without trace, yet has beaten Michael van Praag of the Netherlands, whose outspoken criticism of Blatter over the past few years may be regarded as a blot on his company copybook”, she writes.
Despite Platini’s ban, FIFA’s ethics committee said an exception had been made for the event as a “gesture of humanity”.
Ceferin is the seventh president in the 62-year history of UEFA, which every four years organizes the European Championship – the wealthiest competition between national teams after the World Cup. “Friends of football, farewell”, said Platini, who was given a round of applause but not a standing ovation.
Before then, without detailing the specifics of the wrongdoing, Platini insisted there was nothing improper about taking a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2m) from Federation Internationale de Football Association in 2011.
“You are going to continue this wonderful mission without me”, Platini said.
Van Praag said: “Alex and myself have the same goal – look at our programs”.
Loosing candidate van Praag thanked the delegates for an open campaign and called on the countries that had supported him in his campaign to join him in supporting Ceferin.
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He added: “Obviously people wanted changes and new faces, and you’ve seen what happened today”.
