Slovenian lawyer Aleksander Ceferin is the new UEFA president

Sports Nilgun Salim
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The 48-year-old Slovenian won the UEFA presidency at the election on Wednesday. Aleksander Ceferin received 42 votes during the congress that took place in Athens, becoming the new head of UEFA for the next three years.

‘Thank you so much. This a great joy but also a great responsibility. I am sure that my small country, Slovenia is proud of me. In the near future, I hope I will become proud of myself too’ stated the new UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, after receiving the title.

Initially, the race included three candidates, but Angel Maria Villar announced his retirement on September 6.

Aleksander Ceferin became the seventh president in UEFA’s history, after Danish Ebbe Schwartz (1954-1962), the Swiss Gustav Wiederkehr (1962-1972), the Italian Artemio Franchi (1972 to 1983), French Jacques Georges (1983-1970), Swede Lennart Johansson (1990-2007) and Michel Platini (2007-2016).

According to the UEFA website, Ceferin was born on 13 October 1967. The new head of UEFA attended a Law School in Ljubljana. After graduation, he worked in his family’s law firm. Aleksander specialized in cases which involved professional athletes and sports clubs. He later became the director of his father’s law firm.

In 2011, he was elected president of the Slovenian Football Association and in February 2015 was re-elected for a new mandate of four years.

Since 2005, Ceferin became a respected figure in the Slovenian football. He speaks Italian and English fluently and he is married with three children. Aleksander announced his candidacy for the UEFA leadership in June.