German football body, DFB backs UEFA boss Ceferin ahead of congress

 

BERLIN – German Football Federation (DFB) president Bernd Neuendorf reaffirmed his support to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin ahead of the European football ruling body’s congress in Paris on Thursday.

The DFB has an “excellent relationship” with Ceferin, Neuendorf told dpa, highlighting Ceferin’s “massive support” to the Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.

During the meeting in Paris, Ceferin is planning to amend the UEFA statutes to give him the opportunity to stay in office for a further four years.

Ceferin is due to step down in 2027, but the proposal to amend the rule is due to go before the UEFA congress and it will need a two-thirds majority of the organization’s 55 members.

If the proposal is approved, Ceferin, who was unopposed when he was re-elected last year, could run again for office in 2027.

According to reports, a dispute broke out within the association over the matter, which led Ceferin’s long-time supporter Zvonimir Boban to resign from his role as UEFA’s director of football.

The DFB is represented at the UEFA executive committee by German football league (DFL) supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke and former Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

The UEFA Congress is the annual gathering of European football associations’ elected presidents, their general secretaries and other senior leaders in the continental game.