Zvonimir Boban has quit his role as chief of football at Uefa over a proposal to change the organisation’s statutes that would allow the president, Aleksander Ceferin, to stay beyond a third term.
The rule that the president and executive committee members could serve a maximum of 12 years was introduced in 2017 by Ceferin as part of a reform package. Boban believes the Slovenian intends to run again when his third term finishes in 2027.
Boban, a much-decorated former Milan and Croatia midfielder, wrote an open letter, published in the Croatian news outlet Telegram on Thursday, saying: “I talked to Uefa’s president about a problem that occurred during the last meeting of the executive committee in Hamburg – the proposal to change Uefa’s statute in order to enable Ceferin’s new candidacy after his final mandate runs out.
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“After expressing my deepest concern and complete disagreement with the proposal itself, the president answered that he sees no legal or moral-ethical problem in it – and that he will, without any doubt, proceed with this idea that I find fatal.”
Boban, who joined Uefa in 2021, added: “I fully understand that nothing is ideal, not least myself. I also know that many times we have to accept a logic of compromise but if I were to accept a decision that is this difficult and this wrong, turning my head from it, I would go against principles and general values in which I deeply believe. I’m not pretending to be any sort of hero and I know that many others have the same opinion [as me]. It is perhaps naive, but surely correct.
“Over these three years my relationship and cooperation with Aleksander and all of my colleagues at Uefa was excellent – I would like to thank them for it and wish them all the best. I’m sorry and I’m sad, but I’m leaving Uefa.”
Uefa released a statement saying: “Uefa wishes to announce the departure of Zvonimir Boban from the organisation by mutual agreement. Boban joined the organisation in 2021 as the chief of football and initiated several significant projects in technical development, including the establishment of the Uefa football board and the youth football forum.”
Ceferin said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph this week that he had not yet decided whether to run for another term. “To be honest, I am very tired,” he said.
He took over from Michel Platini when the former France international left part way through a term and is understood to feel that his first three years in office – completing Platini’s mandate through to 2019 – need not count against his term limit of 12 years.
Boban previously criticised Fifa’s idea to stage the World Cup every two years, telling Gazzetta dello Sport: “It would be bad for players, leagues, clubs as well as for the appeal of competitions. It does not respect anybody. It would destroy football’s institutions together with the footballing pyramid that was built thanks to decades of work. Uefa would never propose a biennial Euro, even if it meant more money.”
Boban was one of the best midfielders of his generation, playing internationally for first Yugoslavia and then Croatia, with whom he finished third in the 1998 World Cup. He played for only four clubs during his long and illustrious career, mainly Dinamo Zagreb and Milan, and won four Serie A titles and one Champions League with the Italian side. He also had short spells with Bari and Celta Vigo.
