Aleksander Ceferin Named UEFA President: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Aleksander Ceferin has been appointed the new UEFA president, succeeding banned Michel Platini in the top job. 

BBC Sport confirmed on Wednesday that Ceferin, the head of the Slovenian Football Association, had won the vote, beating Dutch rival Michael van Praag:

The Times' Martyn Ziegler provided reaction from Ceferin:

Per BBC Sport's Richard Conway, he will remain in the post until at least 2019, taking on the remainder of Platini's term of office after the Frenchman was banned from football for four years over a "disloyal payment" made by former FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

The Guardian's Owen Gibson revealed that Ceferin, 48, beat 68-year-old Van Praag—a member of UEFA's executive committee—by a comfortable margin at the UEFA congress in Athens:

Per Conway, English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke welcomed Ceferin's election despite having supported Van Praag:

Ceferin becomes the seventh president in UEFA's history.

He previously outlined three key aims for what he hopes to achieve as UEFA president, per ESPN FC's Vivek Chaudhary:

"

First and foremost, I will look to change to the UEFA statutes to include term-mandate limitations for the president and UEFA executive committee. I don't believe that officials serving for 20 or more years in such key positions is healthy for any organisation. I would put more emphasis on battling match fixing, which is a disease on our sport, by introducing more security and integrity. Thirdly, I would change the bidding process for big competitions and finals for the Champions League, European Championship and other major events. This needs to become completely transparent.

"

Angel Maria Villar had been acting president since Platini resigned from the role in May, but the Spaniard surprisingly dropped out of the race to take the job permanently earlier this month, per Sky Sports' Lyall Thomas.