The 48-year-old father of three has often appeared on Slovenian television speaking for high-profile defendants represented by his family law firm, never losing his temper and always keeping the image of someone who has the situation under control.
UEFA will be a severe test of his skills as it seeks to overcome the shock of losing ex-leader Michel Platini, implicated in FIFA’s corruption scandals, and facing challenges to its prized Champions League.
Ceferin already surprised people when he took over the presidency of Slovenia’s football association, the NZS, in 2011 and quickly joined FIFA’s disciplinary committee and UEFA’s legal committee.
Besides reorganizing the NZS, Ceferin is also credited with bringing together the former Yugoslavian republics in 2015 to make them a football politics bloc.
“I was the first to bring to the same table the national associations of the former state (Yugoslavia), that we adopted a common positions and presented them to UEFA and by doing so improved our reputation within UEFA,” he told state television in a recent interview.
Ceferin really emerged as a growing power in international sports in June when he announced his bid to become UEFA president with the backing of over a dozen European associations ranging from Russia to Scandinavian countries.
He says running for UEFA’s top job was not his idea.
The football associations of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, with which he shares many ideas on reforming European football, urged him to run.
“When that thing (scandal) happened to Michel Platini, the Scandinavians called me and told me ‘we believe you would be the perfect candidate
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