"To be honest, I had no idea who he was. But when two different well-informed sources pointed him out at the FIFA congress in Mexico as the best candidate for new UEFA president, I remembered him," is what Matt Slater, a former BBC and for three weeks now the head sports journalist at the Press Association news agency, told MMC. The British Press Association has launched Čeferin’s name into orbit as a candidate for UEFA president.

Upon announcing his candidacy Čeferin counts on the support of the majority of members
Regional football heads will gather in the Russian capital for meetings initially organized four years ago by the president of the Slovenian Football Association himself. What initially started as meeting between neighbouring football association, has now spread to 14 countries headed by Russia - the host of the next World Cup and the country where UEFA’s main sponsor has its headquarters. The announcement of Čeferin’s candidacy is now expected to happen in Moscow. That would mean that the Slovenian is already backed by more than half of the 55 UEFA members. With that in mind, the elections on the 14th of September at the UEFA extraordinary congress in Athens would just be a formality.

Unburdened by the old sins of UEFA and FIFA
At 48 years of age Čeferin is considered a young man in football governing circles; a man with polite manners, a polyglot, a conscientious participant at all meetings and on top of all that a lawyer - a great advantage in football in Slovenia and Europe. After the stepping down of football czar Sepp Blatter, which also led to the fall of UEFA president and football legend Michel Platini, Čeferin is a completely new face unburdened by the old sins. Also to his advantage are the current football geopolitics.