UEFA turmoil grows as Zvonimir Boban resigns in protest at Čeferin's power move
UEFA turmoil deepens as Zvonimir Boban resigns in protest at Čeferin's presidential power move
Turmoil inside European soccer body UEFA fueled by its president Aleksander Čeferin’s push to change statutes that would let him stay in office longer led to a first exit of a senior manager on Thursday.
Zvonimir Boban, the former Croatia and AC Milan great, cited his “total disapproval” for Čeferin’s political power move in his decision to leave his job as UEFA Chief of Football after three years.
“It is with sorrow, and a heavy heart, I have no option but to leave UEFA,” Boban said in a statement. “I am not trying to be some sort of hero, especially as I am not alone in my thinking here.”
Boban’s departure is the most public show of growing discontent with Čeferin’s leadership since the Slovenian lawyer was re-elected unopposed last April to extend a presidency that started in 2016.
UEFA supported its disgraced former vice president Luis Rubiales of Spain in the furor after incidents at the Women’s World Cup final in August. When Rubiales eventually resigned, UEFA publicly thanked him in a statement that gave no support to the Spanish players.
UEFA then tried to bring Russia national youth teams back into European competitions despite its own ban imposed within days of the military invasion of Ukraine. That plan was dropped within two weeks after a swath of member federations continued to insist they would not play games against Russia.
Rifts in UEFA’s executive committee were widened at a Dec. 2 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of the draw for the men’s 2024 European Championship.
A proposal was made with Čeferin’s approval to amend UEFA statutes that currently limit presidents to 12 years in office — an anti-corruption
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