UEFA to limit president term to maximum 12 years

[February 09, 2017]  BERLIN (Reuters) - Future UEFA presidents will be limited to a maximum of three terms and a total of 12 years in the job, European soccer's governing body said on Thursday, after its executive committee approved a set of governance reforms.

Past presidents of the organization had no such restrictions, with former chief Lennart Johansson in charge for a full 17 years.

Current president Aleksander Ceferin, who replaced disgraced Frenchman Michel Platini in September, has pledged to reform the organization.

UEFA said part of the reforms approved by the executive committee was the "introduction of term limits for the UEFA President and members of the UEFA Executive Committee, with the possibility to serve for a maximum of three four-year terms."

Other changes include granting two member positions on its Executive Committee to representatives of the European Club Association (ECA).

Candidates for election on the committee must also hold an active office in their respective national association.

"I am very pleased that the executive committee gave a unanimous backing to reforms I consider essential for the strengthening of UEFA," Ceferin said.

A logo is pictured on a backdrop before a news conference after an UEFA Executive Board meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

"I am convinced that our member associations will also endorse these good governance proposals to create a stronger and more transparent governing body for the good of European football."

The reforms will now need to be ratified at a UEFA congress on 5 April in Finland.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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