UEFA chief seeks to defuse anger over FIFA Congress delay

Sports Football

Posted by AI on 2025-05-20 11:33:55 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-02-08 14:56:19

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UEFA president seeks to calm tensions after controversial decision to delay FIFA Congress pending election of new president.

Recently appointed UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has attempted to defuse anger over the controversial decision to delay February's FIFA Congress in order to elect a new president.

The Slovenian lawyer, who was elected on 14 September after the shocking resignation of Michel Platini, defended the decision to delay the congress and confirmed that UEFA would be updating their own statutes in the coming weeks.

Top of the agenda at the original February meeting was due to be the election of a new FIFA president to replace the departing Sepp Blatter. However, the decision to delay the congress has been seen in many quarters as a way to shore up support for Blatter's chosen successor, Sheikh Salman of Bahrain.

Ceferin, it is understood, met with leaders of the European Club Association (ECA) and European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) on Tuesday to discuss the situation.

"Dear friends, you know that I am a man of solutions," Ceferin said in a statement. "I have listened to you and I hear you loud and clear. I know you are angry, and disappointed, and that you have doubts; doubts about me, and doubts about UEFA.

"I apologise if you felt that I, as a leader, have divided European football instead of bringing it together. That was never my intention. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to unite European football."

The 50-year-old is currently serving a five-year ban from football, reduced from eight years, for refusing to cooperate with an ethics investigation into Platini. His ban expires in December.

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