Ceferin to stand for fourth term as Uefa president

What the report says

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin will seek a fourth term as the head of European football’s governing body, reversing his earlier plan to step aside. BBC Sport reported that he informed representatives of Europe’s 55 national associations during a meeting in Berlin. Ceferin, who first took office in 2016, had said in February 2024 that he would not stand again, at a time when Uefa was changing its rules to make another term possible.

The decision had been widely expected in recent months, according to the BBC, and reflects the fact that Ceferin has remained a central figure in Uefa politics. The report also places the move in the wider context of tensions between Uefa and Fifa, including Uefa’s opposition to Fifa president Gianni Infantino over the withdrawn proposal to sell stakes in competitions to private investors. That background helps explain why European football officials had been anticipating a change in Ceferin’s position.

Ceferin has said he will not challenge Infantino directly for the Fifa presidency, but he intends to support a candidate who can attract broad backing in the next election, due in March. The development matters because it keeps Ceferin in place at a time when European football leadership is shaping relations with Fifa and other major decisions affecting the game.