Aleksander Ceferin kept the Football Association in the dark about his intention not to stand for another term as UEFA president in 2027 prior to announcing it to the media on Thursday.
The Slovenian said he had known for six months that he would not run again, but had delayed going public because he wanted to see the “real face” of some of those close to him.
He said it had been “amusing” to watch “hysteria” build around the prospect of him staying on until 2031, and made his announcement at a press conference after UEFA Congress rather than confirming it in his Congress speech to member associations.
He said he had shared his decision with his family and “some of his friends and colleagues” but it is understood this was not news he had divulged to the English FA, which just over an hour earlier had voted at UEFA Congress in Paris against a rule change that made a fourth term a possibility.
In a seven-minute monologue Ceferin launched an extraordinary attack on former ally Zvonimir Boban, who resigned as UEFA technical director last month over the proposed statute change.
“I intentionally didn’t want to disclose my thoughts before, because of two reasons: first, I wanted to see the real face of some people and I saw it; I saw good and bad parts,” Ceferin said.
“And of course I didn’t want to influence the Congress. I wanted them to decide not knowing what I’m telling you today, because that’s an honest decision.
“I have to say that it was actually amusing to watch all this hysteria around and at the same time getting all the messages of support from my federations.”
FA sources said even if it had been told about Ceferin’s intentions it would have made no difference to how it voted at Congress, because its vote was on the principle around term limits rather than being about an individual.
Chief executive Mark Bullingham was the only federation leader to hold up a red card against the amendments to the UEFA statutes, having also been one of only three national associations who sought to unbundle the amendments, because it supported the vast majority of them.
Ceferin left the press conference after three questions, leaving his general secretary Theodore Theodoridis to field a follow-up on whether his actions had embarrassed the FA.
“I don’t think so, we have a democracy,” he said.
UEFA treasurer and FA vice-president of international relations David Gill had raised objections to the term limits proposal at an executive committee meeting in Hamburg in December without being given any assurance from Ceferin that he would not exploit the rule change to stand again, while Boban quit last month having claimed he expressed his concerns to Ceferin about the “disastrous” proposal.
Ceferin claimed Boban knew of his intention to stand down but had spoken out anyway because of his own “personal aspirations”.
“Just one sentence about his pathetic cry about morality. He was one of the rare persons that knew that I was not going to run in 2027,” Ceferin said.
“The moment that he got the info that I would disclose it after Congress he went out with his narcissistic letter.
“He could not wait because after my disclosure his whining would not make sense any more. Now think, whose personal aspirations are in question? And think, whose morality is in question?”
Boban chose not to respond to a request for comment.
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
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