Aleksander Ceferin to seek fourth term as Uefa president after calling for Gianni Infantino to quit Fifa

Aleksander Ceferin has told European football's national association leaders that he wants another four years as Uefa president, the Press Association understands. The Slovenian set out his intention to seek re-election at a meeting in Berlin on Thursday morning. He is seeking a fourth term as Uefa president, with the vote due to take place at next year's Uefa Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan. If successful, the term would run through to 2031. Ceferin was first elected to the presidency in 2016. His candidacy is only possible because of controversial changes to presidential term limits in Uefa's statutes, which were voted through at the governing body's 2024 Congress in Paris. The Football Association opposed those changes. After the alterations were approved, Ceferin said he would not be standing again in any case, saying he had made up his mind six months previously to step away when his third term ends in 2027. Ceferin has called for Infantino to resign as Fifa president (Reuters) He had already ruled himself out of standing for the Fifa presidency against Gianni Infantino . A further four years of Ceferin arguably brings certainty and unity to Uefa at a time when it is focused on robustly challenging the Fifa presidency of Infantino. Ceferin has been vocal in his opposition to Infantino since it emerged in July that the Swiss was working on a plan to seek private investment in a company to manage the commercial interests of Fifa's tournaments, including the men's and women's World Cups. Uefa said it had lost confidence in Infantino over his handling of that plan. In August, it announced it would seek to identify a credible alternative to stand against him. There had been speculation in September that Thursday's meeting in Berlin could be the point at which Uefa coalesced around a candidate, but that has not materialised. The deadline for candidates to be submitted for the Fifa presidency is November 18. Uefa sources have indicated a confidence that a candidate will be identified by then. On Wednesday, former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega became the first person to officially announce their intention to challenge Infantino. Infantino, who has also been in post since 2016, still appears to be a formidable opponent. He retains a strong power base particularly in Africa and South America, but also among many Middle East nations, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, also appears to have softened his stance towards Infantino in a letter seen by the Press Association. Sheikh Salman has previously joined Ceferin and Victor Montagliani, the president of Concacaf, in calling on Infantino to step down. His new letter, however, suggests the creation of an internal working group to examine potential Fifa governance reforms.