Aleksander Ceferin (right) was the strong favourite ahead of Michael van Praag (left)

New president Aleksander Ceferin said Uefa must show Europe's big clubs who is in charge as he made Champions League reforms his first priority.

Ceferin, 48, beat Michael van Praag 42-13 in the poll to become the new head of European football's governing body.

Uefa and European clubs last month agreed changes to the Champions League, which critics said favour bigger clubs.

Slovenian Ceferin said his organisation should show the clubs "we are the ones who are the governing body".

Analysis: Why we need Leicester to shake up the Champions League too

Under the reforms announced last month, Europe's top four domestic leagues will be guaranteed four places each in the group stages of the Champions League from 2018-19.

The European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), which represents the continent's 24 domestic football leagues, called on Uefa to scrap the proposals, claiming national leagues will suffer.

"It will be the first thing to deal with," said Ceferin, who succeeds Michel Platini following his resignation after being banned from all football activity last year.

"Uefa is a very good, strong organisation. It was without leadership for some time and that was a problem dealing with this.

"We have to speak and have dialogue with the clubs and I think it can be solved."

Ceferin, who has been the head of the Football Association of Slovenia since 2011, takes on the remainder of Platini's term of office, until 2019.

The lawyer said Financial Fair Play rules - introduced, in Uefa's words, to "improve the overall financial health of European club football" - should be enforced more strongly.

He added there was "a lot of work to do", citing match-fixing, security and safety, and racism as issues to address.

England's Football Association last week declared its support for Van Praag, who - unlike Ceferin - is a member of Uefa's executive committee.

The Scottish Football Association said it would vote for the Slovenian.

After the vote, FA chairman Greg Clarke said he was happy to work with Ceferin, and welcomed his clear mandate.

Analysis

BBC Sports News correspondent Richard Conway:

"It is, by any measure, a meteoric rise to power.

"Aleksander Ceferin only took over as the boss of the Slovenian FA in 2011 but this election sees him become a key figure in European and world football.

"His first priority, he says, is to look at the recent changes to the Champions League structure and financial arrangements.

"This will be a thorny task. Europe's big clubs have negotiated extra cash and group stage slots in recent weeks, a coup which has prompted anger from many smaller nations and leagues.

"His clear mandate will help. So too will the fact he was backed by nations of all sizes with big guns such as Germany, Russia, France and Italy all part of the 42 votes he amassed."

My conscience is clear - Platini

Michel Platini was appointed Uefa president in 2006

Platini earlier said his "conscience is clear" as he spoke to European football's governing body for what is likely to be the last time.

World governing body Fifa gave the Frenchman permission to speak at the meeting in Athens.

The 61-year-old was last year banned from all football activity for breaching ethics rules over a £1.3m "disloyal payment" made to him in 2011 by then Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

"I am certain that I committed not the slightest fault," he said. "I am continuing to fight legally. Just simply know that my conscience is clear.

"You are going to continue this beautiful mission without me, for reasons that I do not wish to come back on."

Fifa's ethics committee handed down an initial eight-year ban to both Blatter and Platini, who have always denied wrongdoing.

The bans were later reduced to six years on appeal to Fifa, then four years in a further appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The issue is still under investigation by Swiss prosecutors.</s>NEW president Aleksander Ceferin said UEFA must show Europe’s big clubs who is in charge as he made Champions League reforms his first priority.Ceferin, 48, beat Michael van Praag 42-13 in the poll to become the new head of European football’s governing body.

 UEFA and European clubs last month agreed changes to the Champions League, which critics said favour bigger clubs.

 Slovenian Ceferin said his organisation should show the clubs “we are the ones who are the governing body”.

 Under the reforms announced last month, Europe’s top four domestic leagues will be guaranteed four places each in the group stages of the Champions League from 2018 to 2019.

 The European Professional Football League (EPFL), which represents the continent’s 24 domestic football leagues, called on UEFA to scrap the proposals, claiming national leagues will suffer.

 “It will be the first thing to deal with,” said Ceferin, who succeeds Michel Platini following his resignation after being banned from all football activity last year.

 “UEFA is a very good, strong organisation. It was without leadership for some time and that was a problem dealing with this.

 “We have to speak and have dialogue with the clubs and I think it can be solved.”

 Ceferin, who has been the head of the Football Association of Slovenia since 2011, takes on the remainder of Platini’s term of office, until 2019.

 The lawyer said Financial Fair Play rules – introduced, in UEFA’S words, to “improve the overall financial health of European club football” – should be enforced more strongly.

 He added there was “a lot of work to do”, citing match-fixing, security and safety, and racism as issues to address.

 England’s Football Association last week declared its support for van Praag, who – unlike Ceferin – is a member of UEFA’S executive committee.

 The Scottish Football Association said it would vote for the Slovenian.

 After the vote, FA chairman Greg Clarke said he was happy to work with Ceferin, and welcomed his clear mandate.

MY CONSCIENCE IS CLEAR – PLATINI

 `Platini earlier said his “conscience is clear” as he spoke to European football’s governing body for what is likely to be the last time.

 World governing body FIFA gave the Frenchman permission to speak at the meeting in Athens.

 The 61-year-old was last year banned from all football activity for breaching ethics rules over a £1.3M “disloyal payment” made to him in 2011 by then FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

 “I am certain that I committed not the slightest fault,” he said. “I am continuing to fight legally. Just simply know that my conscience is clear.

 “You are going to continue this beautiful mission without me, for reasons that I do not wish to come back on.”

 FIFA’s ethics committee handed down an initial eight-year ban to both Blatter and Platini, who have always denied wrongdoing.

 The bans were later reduced to six years on appeal to FIFA, then four years in a further appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

 The issue is still under investigation by Swiss prosecutors. (BBC Sport)</s>Aleksander Ceferin, the president of Slovenia’s football federation, was overwhelmingly elected as the new head of European football’s governing body UEFA at an extraordinary Congress on Wednesday.

Ceferin, 48, beat Dutchman Michael van Praag, the only other candidate, by 42 votes to 13 and will succeed Frenchman Michel Platini, who announced his resignation in May after being banned from football for four years for ethics violations.

Ceferin, who is not a member of UEFA’s executive committee, was little known outside his own country until he announced his intention to run in June.

“I am not a showman, I have no ego issues and I am not a man of unrealistic promises,” he told delegates before the vote. Each of UEFA’s 55 member associations had one vote in the election.</s>ATHENS, Greece (AP) — UEFA elected Aleksander Ceferin to succeed Michel Platini as president on Wednesday, replacing one of the greats of soccer with a largely unknown Slovenian lawyer to lead the European game.

The 48-year-old Ceferin will complete Platini's four-year presidential term through 2019, while the former France captain serves a four-term FIFA ban over an improper payment.

Ceferin, the head of the Slovenian federation, beat UEFA vice president Michael van Praag of the Netherlands 42-13 in the vote in Athens.

Ceferin's immediate challenge is to heal the rifts in European soccer created by the secret deal to increase guaranteed Champions League places for clubs from the powerful leagues of England, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

Ceferin is the seventh president in the 62-year history of UEFA.

"My small and beautiful Slovenia is very proud about, it and I hope one day you will also be very proud of me," Ceferin told UEFA delegates.

Ceferin, who has never served on UEFA's executive committee, tackled his apparent lack of preparedness for the presidency head on in his pre-vote address.

"Some people may have said that I am not a leader, that I am too young and too inexperienced to become the next UEFA president," said Ceferin, a father-of three from Ljubljana. "It's not because you repeat again and again, loud and clear 'I am a leader' that you are a leader. If you have to do it you are probably not a leader."

Ceferin said combining running a law firm in Slovenia with leading the country's soccer federation required him to be "creative, strong and inspiring."

"You can say that I am young and experienced but I honestly think it disrespectful for all small and medium-sized federations who, 365 days a year, have to do more with less," Ceferin said.

UEFA was forced to call the special election after Platini was banned by FIFA's ethics judge last year for taking a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) from the global governing body in 2011.

Despite being banned from holding any position of power or involvement in soccer, Platini was allowed by FIFA's ethics judge to address UEFA delegates on Wednesday as a "gesture of humanity."

"Be assured that I have a clear conscience, that I'm convinced I did not make the slightest mistake, and that I'm continuing the legal battle," Platini told an audience which included FIFA President Gianni Infantino. "I want to thank everyone in this room who had the courage and loyalty to support me during the past months."

Emerging from his FIFA-enforced exile, Platini used the platform in Athens to highlight his achievements since assuming the UEFA presidency in 2007 and issue advice to the next head of European soccer.

"Continue to balance sports realities and economic interests," he said.

Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports</s>Michel Platini reluctantly handed over the reins of power in European football to Aleksander Ceferin, a little-known Slovenian lawyer who won the Uefa presidential election by a landslide yesterday.

Ceferin will complete Platini’s four-year term through to 2019 while the disgraced former France captain returns to his Fifa-imposed exile to continue serving a four-year ban over an improper payment.

Before Ceferin beat Uefa vice-president Michael van Praag 42-13 in the secret ballot, Platini was given special dispensation by Fifa’s ethics judge to bid farewell to European football leaders. Platini assured Uefa delegates he has a “clear conscience” over the legitimacy of the 2 million Swiss francs (£1.5m) he received from Fifa in 2011 that led to his downfall four years later.

After Platini was initially suspended last October by Fifa, a political vacuum opened up in European football that was capitalised on by the elite clubs to influence the future of the Champions League. Ceferin’s immediate challenge is to heal the rifts created by the secret deal, which he opposes, to increase guaranteed Champions League places for clubs from the powerful leagues of England, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

“The most important thing is to give that leadership back to Uefa that clearly we have not had since Michel Platini had to step down last year,” Uefa vice president David Gill said.

With only two and a half years until having to renew his mandate, Ceferin will have little time to waste to convince Uefa’s members it was right to entrust someone with only five years of experience around the governing body with its top job.

“Some people may have said that I am not a leader, that I am too young and too inexperienced to become the next Uefa president,” said Ceferin, a father-of three from Ljubljana. “It’s not because you repeat again and again, loud and clear ‘I am a leader’ that you are a leader. If you have to do it you are probably not a leader.”

Ceferin, aged 48, said combining running a law firm in Slovenia with leading the country’s football federation since 2011 required him to be “creative, strong and inspiring”.

“You can say that I am young and experienced but I honestly think it disrespectful for all small and medium-sized federations who, 365 days a year, have to do more with less,” Ceferin said.

Reinhard Grindel, the German federation president, viewed Ceferin’s election as a vote against the Uefa establishment, including Van Praag of the Netherlands.

“This big majority shows that a lot of FAs ... have a wish to get a new dynamic in Uefa from outside the executive committee,” Grindel said.

The Scottish FA voted for Ceferin but the English FA backed Van Praag.

Ceferin is the seventh president in the 62-year history of Uefa. He said he speaks five languages, is a black belt in karate, and has crossed the Sahara Desert five times, four by car and once on motorbike.</s>Aleksander Ceferin has been elected as the new president of UEFA after winning the necessary number of pledges at the governing body's congress in Athens.

Ceferin, the head of the Slovenian Football Association, was elected ahead of his only rival, Dutchman Michael van Praag, after winning 42 pledges - 14 more than the 28 vote majority needed.

The 49-year-old replaces former president Michel Platini, who resigned from the role last year after receiving an eight-year ban from all football activity for breaching rules over a £1.3m payment from former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

The French three-time Ballon d'Or winner protested his innocence in an address to the congress ahead of the election and claimed that his "conscience is clear" over the payment.

Ceferin becomes just the seventh president in the 62-year history of UEFA and will now take on the remainder of Platini's term, which is due to end in 2019.

"Dear friends, thank you for your fantastic support," Ceferin said in a speech to the congress. "It is a great honour but at the same time a great responsibility. It means a lot to me. My family is very proud about it.

"My small and beautiful Slovenia is also proud about it. I hope one day you will also be proud of me. Thank you very much."

Ceferin is known to oppose the recent changes to the Champions League format, in which the big four nations - England, Germany, Spain and Italy - are set to be granted half of the 32 places in the competition.

UEFA pushed through the secret deal in order to satisfy European football's biggest teams, who had threatened to break away and form their own 'Super League'.

However, Ceferin has criticised the changes - claiming they are "out of the question" and could create a "war" within UEFA.</s>Michel Platini opened UEFA's extraordinary congress to find a replacement for him as president in Athens with an emotional farewell and a note of defiance.

The 61-year-old Frenchman has been banned from all football-related activities since December for receiving what Swiss investigators called a 'disloyal payment' from former FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2011, but was given special permission to say goodbye to his former colleagues by FIFA's ethics committee.

Clearly moved by the occasion, Platini used most of his allotted 10 minutes to praise the organisation he led for eight years from 2007 but he started by repeating that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

"I am certain that I haven't made any mistakes and I will continue to fight this in the courts," said Platini.

The former France and Juventus maestro, who was once widely expected to succeed Blatter as FIFA boss, has endured a chastening year, having seen two appeals against his ban result only in reductions to his original eight-year sentence.

Still banned for four years, he was only allowed to address UEFA's 55 member associations as a "gesture of humanity" from FIFA ethics commission chairman Hans-Joachim Eckert - a concession that was criticised by anti-corruption campaigners, particularly as Platini is still under investigation by the Swiss authorities.

And there were some fears that he would use this opportunity to launch into another long defence of his record, effectively rehearsing his next appeal, but doing so before a friendly audience.

Those fears, however, were not realised, as the vast majority of his speech was a florid eulogy of football's "beauty" and "universality", and praise for UEFA's work under his leadership.

"You are going to continue this wonderful mission without me, for reasons that I won't go into," said Platini.

"I hold no grievance against anybody who didn't support me - everybody is entitled to their own belief. But that is not important, what is important is football."

He then reminded the audience at Athens' five-star Grand Resort Lagonissi of what he said when elected UEFA president for the first time in 2007.

"It is a game, rather than a product; a sport, not a market; a show, rather than a business," he said, before referencing a quote by veteran Israeli statesman Shimon Peres that just as "Jerusalem is a flame, so is football".

He finished his speech by saying "friends of football, farewell", before quickly leaving the room to an ovation that was warm but not extended or standing.

The sense that this really is the end of an era was immediately reinforced when new FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who had been Platini's right-hand man at UEFA, made the next speech.

"This is emotional for me, too. A page is turning and this is a new chapter for UEFA," he said, before pledging FIFA's support to whoever the members elect: Dutch veteran Michael Van Praag or Slovenia's Aleksander Ceferin, two men with very different backgrounds and styles to their predecessor Platini.</s>'Aleksandar and I have the same goal,' said Michael Van Praag on Wednesday morning in Athens, referring to his opponent in the race for UEFA's Presidency.

'We want a different UEFA; we want a better UEFA,' the Dutch FA Chief added. 'But he wanted to do it his way, and I wanted it my way.'

But, after the tension of secret ballot casting and result counting, Praag didn't have it his way. Aleksandar did.

Aleksandar Ceferin, the Slovenian FA Chief with a background in Law, romped to victory at the polls, securing 42 out of 55 member nation votes - a whopping 14 votes more than the majority quota of 28 votes required to lead European Football's governing body.

The Slovenian's victory was unsurprising, though. He had always been the favourite. Sources from his camp told the BBC ahead of Wednesday's elections that the he had received at least 40 pledges of support from most of Europe's FAs - among them Russia, Germany and France.

This backdrop left Praag's competitiveness in doubt. A one-time Ajax Chairman from 1989 to 2003 - in the process overseeing the club's most successful era - Praag, ahead of the elections, famously had the support of the English FA, and also the advantage of being on the UEFA Executive Committee, yet failed to benefit from both, polling only 14 votes. There were concerns about his age too, 68, especially in contrast with his competitor's, although he claimed on Wednesday that it would not be a problem because 'even the Rolling Stones perform well into their 70s.' Eventually, he couldn't perform as well at the polls though: he lost by a margin of 29 votes to his the 48-year-old Ceferin. READ MORE: Who is Aleksander Ceferin?

The other contender, Spain's Angel Maria Villar, pulled out last week. Maria Villar, 66, a long serving Head of the Spanish FA, had been acting as UEFA President even since the erstwhile President Michel Platini resigned in May.

Platini bid farewell to UEFA at the Extraordinary Congress in Athens before the elections, in the wake of a disgraceful ban from all football activities; a consequence of bribery allegations levelled against him by Swiss Prosecutors. He was revealed to have received a 'disloyal payment' amount of $2m from former FIFA President Sepp Blatter in 2011: a breach of ethics rules.

'I am certain that I committed not the slightest fault,» Platini told UEFA delegates in Athens in his final address after an eight-year reign. 'I am continuing to fight legally. Just simply know that my conscience is clear. You are going to continue this beautiful mission without me, for reasons that I do not wish to come back on. I want to thank everyone in this room who had the courage and loyalty to support me during the past months."

Ceferin, who has only five years of top level football administrative experience, having been boss of Slovenia's FA, the NZS, since 2011, is expected to see out the remainder of Platini's term - which lasts until 2019. Fresh elections will be held that year to determine who leads the body ahead of 2020 Euros, which will be a novelty, spread across 13 cities in 13 countries to mark Euros' 60th anniversary.

'It is a great honour, but also a great responsibility,» Ceferin said in his victory address. «It means a lot to me. My small and beautiful Slovenia is very proud of it, and I hope that one day you will also be proud of me."

Ceferin is expected to restore credibility to UEFA amid the taint of the Platini scandal. Once he begins work at UEFA's Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, he will be expected to address many key issues, the most dominant one being the controversial 'secret deal' - UEFA's decision to grant extra Champions League slots to its top four power players (England, Spain, Germany and Italy) from the 2018/19 season. Ceferin's opposition to this decision, announced in August, has been well documented. He has expressed disappointment at UEFA kowtowing to pressure from the Big Four, and has also called the bluff of these same countries to set up a 'European Super League', a bargaining chip to force the hand of UEFA into granting them 16 of the Champions League's 32 slots. Ceferin believes the Super League, which has been the subject of the Big Four's flirtation for many years, is 'out of question' and would create 'war with UEFA.' «We have to speak and have dialogue with the clubs and I think it can be solved,' Ceferin said immediately after his win.

Born on October 13, 1967, Ceferin is a married father of three who works and resides in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, where for the last five years he has been juggling the responsibilities of running his own law firm in addition to his Slovenian FA Presidency.

Ceferin has claimed that he is 'not a part of the old establishment' of UEFA - unlike Praag and Maria Villar - although he has served on UEFA's Legal Committee for the last five years. In addition to highlighting the fact that he has not been associated with either FIFA or UEFA in their scandal-ridden recent pasts, he has also extoled his virtues of being 'transparent' and a 'family man' - qualities he feels will help him redeem the trust and respect UEFA seems to have lost.

"I'm a man of conviction, a passionate man, a man of my own and a man of his word,» he said on Wednesday. «I'm not a showman. I have no ego issues and I'm not a man of unrealistic promises. Some people may have said that I'm not a leader, that I'm too young and too inexperienced to become the next UEFA president. Me a leader? I don't know. I cannot declare myself a leader. It's not because you repeat again and again loud and clear, 'I'm a leader', that you're a leader. If you have to do it, you're probably not a leader. I'm almost 50 years old and I'm chairing my own company and the Football Association of Slovenia for years now. You can say that I'm young and inexperienced but I honestly think it's disrespectful for all the presidents of small and medium-sized federations, who for 365 days a year have to do more with less. Presidents of these kinds of federations must be creative, strong and inspiring. And, believe me, we have experience."

The road to power has been anything but smooth for Ceferin, who has had to defend his reputation many times, including in the face of one suggestion that insinuated that he is into football administration to capitalize on the wealth. 'I have a very big law firm so I don't need it [the presidency] for my CV or to get something for me personally,' he claimed.

Again, during campaigning, his opponent Praag, on twitter, shared an article titled 'The President's Man' from the website Josimar, a investigative piece that accused Ceferin of receiving support from a very influential puppet master: FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The Slovenian was quick to counter-accuse the Dutchman of 'making up stories to pollute the pre-election period', further describing the article and its claims as 'imagination.' Meanwhile, Infantino also distanced himself from the speculations.

"This is an insult on the intelligence of all the national associations and those who are voting," Infantino said after the vote on Wednesday. "You have seen there was a democratic process."

All is set for the football chief of the world's 59th ranked nation to assume what is arguably football's second most powerful political seat. He seems well equipped too, linguistically at least: he speaks at least five languages. On the flip side, there's some trivia to suggest a hard-core character: he has a Black Belt in Karate and has reportedly crossed the Sahara Desert on five different occasions, all for fun - four times in a car and including once on a motorbike.</s>Disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini insisted he had done nothing wrong and said his conscience was clear as he gave a farewell speech to European soccer's governing body at their extraordinary Congress on Wednesday.

The Frenchman, who resigned in May after being banned for from the sport for four years for ethics violations, was given a round of applause by the delegates but did not get a standing ovation.

"Thank you. Thank you for these nine years. I think we did a great job... Friends of football, farewell," said Platini, who was first elected in 2007, at the end of his seven-minute speech.

His replacement was to be elected immediately afterwards with Slovenia's Aleksander Ceferin and Dutchman Michael van Praag as the two candidates.

Despite Platini's ban, FIFA's ethics committee said an exception had been made for the event as a "gesture of humanity."

"It's very emotional for me to be here but I'm also delighted to be here because this will be my last speech to a UEFA Congress," Platini began.

"You are going to continue this wonderful mission without me for reasons I don't want to go into today.

"I have a clear conscience, I am certain not to have made any mistake and will continue to fight this in the courts."

One of the finest players of his generation who went on to become a powerful sporting official, Platini was suspended over his dealings with fallen world soccer chief Sepp Blatter during the scandal which shook the sport's global governing body last year.

Platini was banished along with Blatter over a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.08 million) made to the Frenchman by FIFA with Blatter's approval in 2011 for work done a decade earlier.

Platini said that football was "a game rather than a product, a sport rather than a market, a show not a business."

"There isn't one football for large nations and one for small nations, there is a single football, a single sport, it doesn't belong to FIFA or UEFA, it belongs to the whole world," he said.

"That is why I wanted to come today to say thank you and, friends of football, farewell."</s>New UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin has been a high profile lawyer in his native Slovenia but had no record in football until he took over his country’s football federation in 2011.

The 48-year-old father of three has often appeared on Slovenian television speaking for high-profile defendants represented by his family law firm, never losing his temper and always keeping the image of someone who has the situation under control.

UEFA will be a severe test of his skills as it seeks to overcome the shock of losing ex-leader Michel Platini, implicated in FIFA’s corruption scandals, and facing challenges to its prized Champions League.

Ceferin already surprised people when he took over the presidency of Slovenia’s football association, the NZS, in 2011 and quickly joined FIFA’s disciplinary committee and UEFA’s legal committee.

Besides reorganizing the NZS, Ceferin is also credited with bringing together the former Yugoslavian republics in 2015 to make them a football politics bloc.

“I was the first to bring to the same table the national associations of the former state (Yugoslavia), that we adopted a common positions and presented them to UEFA and by doing so improved our reputation within UEFA,” he told state television in a recent interview.

Ceferin really emerged as a growing power in international sports in June when he announced his bid to become UEFA president with the backing of over a dozen European associations ranging from Russia to Scandinavian countries.

He says running for UEFA’s top job was not his idea.

The football associations of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, with which he shares many ideas on reforming European football, urged him to run.

“When that thing (scandal) happened to Michel Platini, the Scandinavians called me and told me ‘we believe you would be the perfect candidate for president'”, Ceferin told Ljubljana’s daily Delo.

Platini who only officially resigned in May, had not been in the post since October last year over revelations of a $2 million payment from FIFA in 2011 for work carried out a decade earlier.

After the Scandinavian call, Ceferin could not turn back and says he has even paid for almost one hundred flights to lobby for support with national associations.

“I’m little known in these circles so I have to introduce myself to each one of them,” Ceferin said recently.

“People want changes, they want a younger man with new ideas who has not been around since forever,” Ceferin added.

As a lawyer, he has cautiously abstained from criticising the handling of UEFA’s affairs but this month he lost his temper when a Norwegian paper accused him of being “the (FIFA) president’s man” in the race, an allegation he attributed to his main rival, the Dutch Michael van Praag.

“You can judge yourself who’s using the old (UEFA) methods. The one that meets football associations and presents them his programme to get their support or the one that invents stories to compromise the elections and desperately get at least some support,” Ceferin told Slovenian state.

Slovenia, a country of two million, has been organising its own football leagues since it declared independence in 1991 and its national team’s greatest success was to qualify to the 2002 World Championship in South Korea.
Members of European football's governing body, UEFA, elect Aleksander Čeferin, president of the Football Association of Slovenia since 2011, president of UEFA. Čeferin will serve the remainder of former UEFA president Michel Platini's term of office, until 2019, who was banned by the FIFA Ethics Committee for corruption last year.