FA set to vote against UEFA rule change allowing Aleksander Ceferin extra term

By Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter, Paris

The Football Association intends to vote against a rule change which would allow UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to serve a further term in 2027, the PA news agency understands.

National associations, including the English FA, will be asked to amend a raft of UEFA statutes at Thursday’s Congress in Paris.

Within that bundle of rule changes is a move to amend Article 69 which would mean the first partial term Ceferin served from September 2016 would not be counted within the three-term limit, and would therefore allow him to serve a further full term from 2027 to 2031.

The proposal has already led to the resignation of UEFA’s technical director Zvonimir Boban, who had previously been a strong ally of Ceferin.

The FA is understood to have pushed for the statute amendments to be unbundled because it wholeheartedly supports most of the other changes proposed – such as increasing the minimum number of female representatives on the ruling UEFA executive committee from one to two.

However, it does have concerns over the change to the term limits. FA sources insist this is a governance position, rather than a vote against Ceferin.

It is not yet known whether any of the FA representatives in Paris, who include chair Debbie Hewitt and chief executive Mark Bullingham, will speak out against the amendments during the Congress.

Boban described the term limit proposal as “disastrous” in an open resignation letter published last month.

“If I were to accept such a difficult and wrong decision and turn my head, I would be going against the principles and general values in which I deeply believe,” the former Croatia and AC Milan playmaker said.

Ceferin was re-elected unopposed for a four-year term at last year’s UEFA Congress in Lisbon.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, UEFA’s executive committee gave its approval to how the money from its new-look men’s club competitions will be split in the 2024-27 cycle.

The split had first been disclosed in September last year after the agreement of a Memorandum of Understanding between UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA).

Of the projected 4.4billion euros (£3.75bn) it expects to earn in each year of the cycle, 3.317bn euros will be reserved for clubs that participate in the new league stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

The percentage split between the competitions stays the same as the current cycle, with Champions League clubs receiving 74.38 per cent – projected to be €2.467 billion.

Manchester City revealed in their most recent accounts that they had earned £113.85 million from their run to the Champions League final last season. Senior UEFA sources indicated the winning team in the 2024-25 season could expect to earn slightly more because of the revenue increase – around £140m.

Seven per cent of the overall projected revenue will go to non-participating clubs – equivalent to €308 million. A further three per cent will be divided among clubs who compete in the qualifying rounds.