biography Archives - UEFA Foundation

Aleksander Čeferin, born in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 13 October 1967, is married with three children.

A graduate of Ljubljana University's law faculty, Aleksander Čeferin went on to work for his family's law firm, and developed a special interest in representing professional athletes and sports clubs. He later took over from his father as company director.

He first took a formal interest in local football in 2005 through his work with the executive board of KMN Svea Lesna Litija, one of Slovenia's most successful futsal clubs. A member of the executive committee of amateur side FC Ljubljana Lawyers since 2005, he served as a member at NK Olimpija Ljubljana from 2006-11.

In 2011, Aleksander Čeferin was elected as Football Association of Slovenia president. He also served as a second and third vice-chairman of the UEFA Legal Committee from 2011 to 2016.

Aleksander Čeferin was elected as UEFA's seventh president at the 12th Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Athens in September 2016, and automatically became a vice-president of the world body FIFA.

He came into office with a clear vision for the future, which focussed on the further protection, promotion and development of European football, putting the game first and safeguarding its interests. He pledged to work for unity and dialogue among the European football community. He has also underlined that UEFA must be a “social fair play” body which promotes respect, diversity and inclusion, and shows no tolerance for racism, sexism, homophobia or any form of discrimination.

On November 22, 2017, Aleksander Čeferin, was elected as the new chairman of the UEFA Foundation for Children at the board of trustees’ meeting held at the UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

At the 43rd Ordinary UEFA Congress, held on February 7, 2019 in Rome, Italy, he was unanimously re-elected as UEFA President for the period 2019-23.

Kairat Boranbayev, born on 22 September 1966, is a Kazakh businessman and president of FC Kairat Almaty.

He graduated from the Kazakh State Institute of Physical Culture in 1989, and began his career working as a physical education teacher. He then went on to obtain a master’s in law and a doctorate in pedagogy from the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University .

From 1993 to 2000 he worked in various management positions within government and businesses in Kazakhstan.

Between 2000 and 2009 he held an equally diverse range of positions. In 2000, he was appointed executive director of KazTransGas, of which he became deputy director general for external economic relations in April 2002. Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2002, he was commercial director of Intergas Central Asia.

In 2006, he was appointed chairman of the board of KazRosGas, a business which processes and transports natural gas sourced in Kazakhstan.

He then expanded the scope of his work by getting involved in social activities and promoting healthy lifestyles throughout Kazakhstan, as a result of which he was elected president of the Kostanai Boxing Federation in April 2009.

He became chairman of the supervisory committee of FC Kairat Almaty in 2012 and two years later was appointed CEO of the Almaly asset management company.

In 2015 Mr Boranbayev was appointed as the President of National Paralympic Committee of Kazakhstan.

Kairat Boranbayev has been the 2nd Vice-Chairman of the Fair Play and Social Responsibility Committee since July 2017, and a member of the board of trustees of the UEFA Foundation for Children since 22 November 2017.