Sports
UEFA President Won’t Seek Re-Election
Aleksander Ceferin said yesterday he would not seek a fourth term as UEFA president in 2027 despite the approval of controversial reforms that would allow him to extend his mandate.
“I decided around six months ago that I’m not planning to run in 2027 anymore,” the 56-year-old Slovenian lawyer said at a press conference following the UEFA Congress in Paris.
“The reason is that after some time, every organisation needs fresh blood, but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now.”
Ceferin also said he was “tired of Covid, tired of two wars” and of plans for a rival Super League that he called a “nonsense project”.
His surprise announcement came shortly after UEFA member nations voted overwhelmingly in favour of a series of statute amendments, including a measure that would have let Ceferin potentially stay in his role until 2031.
“I intentionally didn’t want to disclose my thoughts before, because firstly, I wanted to see the real face of some people and I saw it,” said Ceferin, first elected in 2016 following the downfall of Frenchman Michel Platini.
“I didn’t want to influence the Congress. I wanted them to decide (on the statutes) not knowing what I’m telling you today.”
The key amendment passed does not erase the three-term limit but stipulates that terms of office started or served before July 1, 2017, shall not be taken into account.
The rule was introduced by Ceferin that year as an anti-corruption move in the wake of the FIFA scandal. He said the need to change the existing legislation stemmed from the fact it had not been properly implemented at the time.
Ceferin was re-elected unopposed for a third term last April, just weeks after Gianni Infantino was re-elected as president of the sport’s world governing body FIFA.
However his suggestion he could run for a fourth term, which arose during an executive meeting in December, prompted UEFA’s chief of football Zvonimir Boban to resign last month.
The former Croatia midfielder, who was part of AC Milan’s successful sides in the 1990s, called it a “disastrous idea”.
Ceferin took a parting shot at Boban, formerly a close ally, criticising his “narcissistic whining” and “pathetic cry about morality”.
The motion comfortably received the two-thirds majority required during Thursday’s vote, with England the lone dissenting voice among the 55 member nations. Ukraine abstained.
– ‘Strength in unity’ –
Ceferin hit back at claims that his organisation, which has had to fight off the threat of the breakaway Super League, was crumbling under his leadership.
“UEFA is divided I’ve read, UEFA is fragmented beyond repair I’ve read. I hope that, I’m probably naive, the ones who claim that are a bit embarrassed now after this vote,” he said.
Among a number of other statute changes voted for as a block of measures, which the English FA also opposed, was a proposal guaranteeing greater female representation on UEFA’s ruling executive committee.
An age limit of 70 for all members of that committee was repealed as well.
Twenty-six European countries signed a joint declaration Thursday voicing their opposition to the Super League, although Spain was a notable absentee from that list.
Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are still publicly attached to the project, which sent shockwaves through the sport when 12 of its biggest clubs announced they had signed up to the competition in April 2021.
However, within 48 hours nine of the 12 rebel clubs — including six from the English Premier League — backed down and the project collapsed.
Ceferin took another swipe at those behind the Super League as he addressed the Congress, likening it to “Snow White’s poisoned apple”.
“There is strength in unity, and unity is the only thing that can save us,” said Ceferin.
“Today, a few individuals are trying to divide us in the name of the free market, driven by an insatiable desire to generate ever-increasing profits for the privileged few.
“I know some supporters are critical about us, about FIFA, which is normal. Anti-institution and anti-establishment sentiment is rife.
“But we take it on the chin. Because we know what we stand for. We stand for an ideal; a fragile balance between opposing interests. And that comes at a price.”
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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