What happened at the 2025 UEFA Congress?
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Article summary
Everything you need to know about our annual Congress, held in Belgrade on Thursday.
Article top media content
Article body
Hosted by the Serbian Football Association (FSS), the 49th Ordinary UEFA Congress brought together all 55 national association presidents and general secretaries in Belgrade this week.
As well as important elections for the UEFA Executive Committee and the FIFA Council, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin delivered his annual update on the health of the European game. There were also keynote speeches from Aleksandar Vučić, president of the Republic of Serbia, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
UEFA also announced Karl-Erik Nilsson, David Gill and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as honorary members of our Executive Committee.
Read on for a quick overview of the main takeaways.
"European football must continue to stand as a model for unity in this increasingly divided world. We unite and inspire. It is our mission, to which we are wholly committed."
"We have always to try to use sport, and football in particular, to bring people and countries together. This sport is a bridge that spans all cultures and nations of the world, based on mutual trust and passion."
Aleksander Čeferin: 'Unite and inspire'
In an increasingly divided world, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin’s speech to Congress highlighted why European football’s core values of unity, solidarity and teamwork are more important than ever.
"We work for football and the fans, not just for one-time, short-term profits. Our elite competitions generate important funds and raise greater awareness of the grassroots. With that in mind, clubs must prioritise long-term growth over unchecked ambition, creating a system where success is earned, not bought."
Executive Committee elections
Below is an overview of successful candidates elected to our Executive Committee or to the FIFA Council.
UEFA Executive Committee (four-year term)
Gabriele Gravina, Italy (re-elected)
Lise Klaveness, Norway
Marijan Kustić, Croatia
Ari Lahti, Finland
Armen Melikbekyan, Armenia
Frank Paauw, Netherlands
Aivar Pohlak, Estonia
Hans-Joachim Watzke, Germany (re-elected)
UEFA Executive Committee (two-year term)
Rafael Louzán, Spain
Moshe Zuares, Israel
Claudius Schäfer was also ratified as the European Leagues representative on the UEFA Executive Committee for a four-year term.
FIFA Council (four-year term)
Răzvan Burleanu, Romania (re-elected)
Georgios Koumas, Cyprus (re-elected)
Bernd Neuendorf, Germany (re-elected)
Dejan Savićević, Montenegro (re-elected)
Pascale Van Damme, Belgium
Honorary UEFA membership
Honorary UEFA membership was bestowed upon departing Executive Committee members David Gill, Karl-Erik Nilsson and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – recognition of their significant contributions to UEFA and European football during years of service.
Happy birthday to the UEFA Foundation for Children
Congress also celebrated ten years of the UEFA Foundation for Children, which uses the power of sport to improve the lives of vulnerable young people all over the world.
In Belgrade, the foundation's general secretary Carine N'koué was joined by children from a local primary school. They sang Happy Birthday to the organisation that since 2015 has invested €52 million into 577 projects in 138 countries worldwide, with more than 3.2 million children benefiting from its work.
To celebrate the anniversary, later this month the foundation will team up with national associations to deliver special programmes and events across Europe.
"This adventure officially began in April 2015, ten years ago. We are delighted that UEFA’s national associations will join us in celebrating this anniversary, and by supporting a charitable project for children in your countries, we send a strong message of hope, teamwork, unity and generosity in the face of the daily challenges of the most vulnerable."
Looking back at the 2023/24 season
Financial matters
Presentations on the 2023/24 finance year and 2024/25 budget showed how UEFA continues to ensure the success of our competitions benefits the entire European football pyramid.
UEFA Annual Report
Congress approved the 2023/24 UEFA Annual Report, a comprehensive overview of how we are living our new strategy across four distinct areas of modern football: competitions, development, sustainability, governance.
UEFA committees
Update on the 2023/24 activities of UEFA’s 19 committees, which shape policies across the broad palette of European football.
2024/25: The season so far
Review of the action on the pitch in the first half of the 2024/25 season, with UEFA’s men’s club competitions taking on a new league-phase format that will be replicated in next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.
UEFA Women’s EURO 2025
Martin Kallen, CEO of UEFA Events SA, whetted the appetite for this summer’s showpiece football event – the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, which will take place in Switzerland from 2 to 27 July. Sixteen national associations will be represented at the tournament, which promises to be the biggest and best Women’s EURO ever.
In memoriam
Each year, Congress stands for a moment of silence in tribute to members of the football community who have passed away over the previous 12 months. In 2025, the European game lost some of its most loved icons including Andreas Brehme, Helmut Duckadam, Doris Fitschen, Denis Law, Johan Neeskens and Salvatore Schillaci.
Next Congress
Finally, it was confirmed that the next UEFA Congress will take place in Brussels, Belgium on 12 February 2026. See you there!
