By Gareth James
The Football Association of Wales is expected to hold its nose and vote in favour of a rule change which would allow UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to serve a further term in 2027.
National associations, including the FAW and English FA, will be asked to amend a raft of UEFA statutes at Thursday’s Congress in Paris.
It is understood the FAW gave serious consideration to voting against the alterations – and the FA will do so – but Welsh officials are likely to back the changes, despite serious misgivings.
BREAKING: The FA is planning to vote against a UEFA rule change which would allow current president Aleksander Ceferin to serve another term in charge, Sky Sports News can confirm ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YADS7GBeez
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 7, 2024
It is possible a handful of countries will abstain.
Within the 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.
https://twitter.com/TimesSport/status/1755350732856058053?s=20
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.
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 English Football Association (FA) is set to vote against a set of amendments to UEFA’s rulebook at the organisation’s congress in Paris on Thursday because it includes a change that will let UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin stand for a fourth term.https://t.co/gsoFwVyOcz
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) February 7, 2024
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 2.467bn euros.
Manchester City revealed in their most recent accounts that they had earned £113.85m 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 308m euros. A further three per cent will be divided among clubs who compete in the qualifying rounds.
https://twitter.com/FAWales/status/1488618185603665935?s=20
