Boban resigns from UEFA over ‘disastrous’ Ceferin re-election plan

UEFA’s chief of football Zvonimir Boban said on Wednesday he has resigned from his position after the body’s president Aleksander Ceferin proposed plans for his possible re-election in 2031.

Slovenian Ceferin, 56, put forward a proposition in December, which will be voted on by UEFA’s congress in February, for a president to be able to stand for a fourth term.

Ceferin was first elected in 2016 and wants to amend UEFA statutes in order to run for election once again.

But former Croatia international midfielder Boban, 55, who was part of AC Milan’s successful side in the 1990s, said he totally opposed the plan.

“After I expressed my greatest concern and my complete disagreement with the method and the proposal itself, the president replied that for him there was no legal or moral-ethical problem, and that he would without any doubt continue with this, in my opinion, disastrous idea,” Boban, who had held the UEFA role for just over two years, wrote in an open letter.

“I know very well that many times we have to accept the logic of compromise, but 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. 

“I’m not playing any hero, and I know very well that many share the same opinion — maybe naive, but certainly correct.”

Another proposition is to set an age limit of 70 for all members of the UEFA’s executive committee.

The European body confirmed Boban’s departure and made a statement on the amendments that will be put to vote on February 8 in Paris.

“Terms of office started or served before 1 July 2017 shall not be taken into account for the purposes of the term limits set out in Art 22, para 1,” it said.

Boban won four Serie A titles and the Champions League with AC Milan in the 1990s, and helped Croatia to third place in the 1998 World Cup.