A Slovenian becomes the new UEFA president

Aleksander Čeferin, the head of the Slovenian Football Association, has become the new president of UEFA, the governing body of European football. He beat Dutchman Michael van Praag in a secret ballot at the UEFA congress in Athens, Greece, by 42 votes to 13.

Aleksander Čeferin, layer and the president of the Slovenian Football Association, has become the 7th president in the 62-year history of the UEFA organisation. In his first press conference, he said that he would strive for transparency by introducing term limits for key UEFA officials and establishing a compliance committee to monitor the association`s governance. His bid to become the first man of UEFA included the support of smaller UEFA members and also secured the endorsements of the bigger ones such as Germany, Italy and France. Čeferin’s election was greeted with joy and pride in green, active and healthy Slovenia. Both senior sports officials and politicians highlighted the importance of his new position.

Aleksander Čeferin’s work with the Slovenian Football Association has significantly improved the large scale facilities and accommodation which is helping make Slovenia an appealing destination for sports including football, volleyball and winter sports. The Slovenian Tourism Board will be placing a big emphasis on sports tourism in 2017. Over the past few years, considerable investment has been made in a wide range of facilities including winter sports training, new cycling routes and new football training grounds. The country’s high altitude training locations, favoured by Olympic athletes from all over the world, are growing increasingly more popular with sports teams.

Photo: UEFA

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