Aleksander Ceferin has changed his mind. The Uefa president told a meeting of all 55 national association chiefs in Berlin that he will stand for a fourth term, reversing the promise he made in February 2024 that he would not seek re-election.
Few people in the room will have been shocked. The decision had been widely expected for months, and it became close to inevitable once Uefa decided to go after Gianni Infantino. Ceferin, who is 58 and was first elected in 2016, put it in the language of duty. "There is still important work ahead, and I have therefore accepted their request," he said, adding that his ambition is to keep European football united and leave Uefa ready for the next generation.
Why the u-turn was always likely
The backdrop matters here. When Ceferin first said he was done, he was fighting a row over Uefa changing its own statutes to let him serve beyond three terms. That argument never really went away, and a growing number of insiders had come to assume he would simply carry on. The fight with Fifa gave him a reason to say yes that did not look entirely selfish: why hand over the keys in the middle of a standoff with Infantino?
That standoff has been bitter. Infantino scrapped the controversial plan to sell stakes in Fifa's competitions to private investors after widespread opposition, but Uefa has not eased off. In July, Ceferin boycotted the World Cup final in protest at Fifa, and now Uefa has put its case on paper.
Uefa's 14-point plan for Fifa
Fifa holds its presidential election in March, and Infantino is due to stand again. Uefa and 54 of its 55 associations, with Azerbaijan the only exception, backed a reform plan that spells out what they want. Much of it is about governance and about stripping some of the direct powers from the president's office. It was those powers, Uefa argues, that allowed the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal to be developed behind closed doors.
The plan says presidential or executive interference must be removed from the bodies that oversee ethics and discipline. It insists no Fifa money should be used for personal or electoral interests. It also calls for at least 10 million dollars (about 7.5 million pounds) in extra funding for each of Fifa's 211 member associations, a line that is clearly aimed at the smaller federations whose votes decide these contests.
Uefa was blunt about the bigger picture too. Institutional reform "will not, on its own, be enough", it said, and Fifa also needs a respected and unifying figure with the experience to command confidence across regions.
Who actually runs against Infantino?
That is the awkward part. Ceferin has ruled himself out of standing against Infantino, but says he is committed to finding a candidate the game can rally around. As things stand nobody credible has come forward. Ramon Vega, the former Tottenham defender, says he intends to stand, although it is unclear whether he can gather the five letters of support needed to reach the ballot paper.
So Uefa has a plan, a villain and a four-year term lined up for its own leader, but no challenger. Unless a heavyweight emerges in the coming weeks, the March vote looks like Infantino's to lose, and Ceferin will have to decide how hard he wants to keep fighting a battle he cannot easily win.
Context: Ceferin, 58, elected Uefa president in 2016. Announcement made at a meeting of Uefa's 55 member associations in Berlin on 8 October 2026. Fifa presidential election: March 2027. Source: BBC Sport reporting, rewritten.
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