Former Manchester United chairman David Gill is leading the resistance to a controversial UEFA plan that has seen the governing body descend into a ‘civil war’, according to reports. It was claimed on Sunday that UEFA are seeking for a rule change that would allow president Aleksander Ceferin to remain in power beyond the 12-year limit he previously helped to create.
According to the Financial Times, the draft proposals would amend the language related to term limits in a way that would enable Ceferin to stand for another four years. He has been in power since 2016 and would not be allowed to serve a fourth term under the current regulations, with his maximum period of rule ending in 2027.
Former United chairman Gill reacted angrily when the new proposals were tabled during a UEFA meeting in Hamburg last week, according to the Daily Mail. It is said that he spoke out against the controversial plans on the grounds they are ‘undemocratic’ and not in the best interests of football governance.
Gill is reportedly leading the opposition to the planned alterations, which Ceferin and his allies are thought to have been working on for ‘months’ behind the scenes. The proposals will be put to a vote of all 55 member nations at the UEFA Congress in February, with a simple majority of 28 required for them to be introduced.
The report adds that Gill would also be granted another potential four years in office if the controversial measures are put into action, but he is planning to fight them regardless. Other members of UEFA’s committee are said to have expressed their own concerns and will lobby national associations, including the FA, for support over the coming weeks.
Express Sport have reached out to UEFA for comment.
Ceferin was elected UEFA president seven years ago after his predecessor, Michel Platini, was given a four-year ban from football for receiving an unauthorised payment from ex-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter. Comprehensive governance reforms were introduced during Ceferin’s first year in charge, which included a new three-term limit for all executive appointments.
The Slovenian lawyer is currently in the early stages of his third term as UEFA president after he was re-elected as the sole candidate earlier this year. He faced his biggest challenge in 2021 when some of the continent’s top clubs attempted to form a European Super League before the plans went up in smoke just a few days later.
In his address ahead of his re-election this year, Ceferin said: “There have been temptations, and even attempts, to create new models, but they conflict with the European model that we know so well and cherish so dearly. Our model is based on sporting merit. Where we come from, merit doesn’t have a price.
“Merit can’t be claimed. It can’t be acquired. It can only be earned season by season, on and off the pitch. There’s no room for cartels on this continent.”
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