Ceferin unopposed for 3rd term as UEFA president

Published Jan. 6, 2023 8:57 a.m. ET

Associated Press

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin will not face any challengers as he seeks a third term leading European soccer's governing body, UEFA said Friday.

UEFA said the deadline for candidates passed Thursday with Čeferin the only name on the ballot for the presidency at the UEFA Congress on April 5 in Lisbon.

That was widely expected after UEFA said in October that Čeferin, a lawyer from Slovenia, had the backing of all of the member federations.

Under UEFA statutes, presidents are limited to three terms of four years, though any partial term also counts as a full term.

Čeferin beat Michael van Praag of the Netherlands by 42 votes to 13 in 2016 as he replaced Michel Platini, who was suspended by world soccer’s ruling body FIFA for financial irregularities part-way through his term.

Čeferin was re-elected unopposed in 2019.

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