Notwithstanding the passage of contentious changes that would have allowed him to continue in office, Aleksander Ceferin declared on Thursday that he would not run for a fourth term as president of UEFA in 2027.

"I decided around six months ago that I'm not planning to run in 2027 anymore," Ceferin said at a press conference following the UEFA Congress in Paris.

"The reason is that after some time, every organisation needs fresh blood, but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now."

Ceferin made his announcement only briefly after UEFA member nations overwhelmingly approved several statutory amendments, one of which would have given Ceferin the option to continue in his position until 2031.


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"I intentionally didn't want to disclose my thoughts before because, firstly, I wanted to see the real face of some people, and I saw it," said Ceferin, who was first elected in 2016 following the downfall of Frenchman Michel Platini.

"I have a beautiful life in football, I have a beautiful life outside of football as well."

The amendment to the presidential statute states that terms of office begin or end before July 1, 2017, but it does not eliminate the three-term limit.