UEFA's presidential hopefuls vow to block a European super league
Tuesday 13 September 2016 19:15, UK
Whoever is chosen as UEFA's next president in Wednesday's election will move to block a new European super league.
Aleksander Ceferin and Michael van Praag are the only two contenders to replace the suspended Michel Platini after Spain's Angel Maria Villar withdrew last week.
While Ceferin and Van Praag have had disagreements ahead of the vote, they are united in their bid to stop the continent's leading clubs from breaking away and creating a wider financial gap.
Slovenian lawyer Ceferin said: "I will fight against that but I don't think it's a big threat. They also know it's important to be part of a league everyone can be part of.
"We should communicate more with them and the football associations. I don't think it is a serious threat.
"We will do everything [to ensure a] super league never happens. It will never happen. I am not sure if the clubs want a super league. We will never be for that."
Dutch FA president Van Praag told Sky Sports News HQ: "The clubs took advantage of the fact we didn't have a president and they came up with this idea of a super league.
"That is a pity but I would not say UEFA is in crisis because I know very well how to handle this, I can tell you."
Asked if he could stop a breakaway, Van Praag said: "Yes, I can. I am not going to tell you [how] on the television. That is now something I will do with all the stakeholders, the clubs and the leagues.
Ceferin, 48, is the favourite to succeed Platini but Van Praag - two decades older than his rival - is the choice the Football Association are backing.
He has already said he will leave the post in 2019 if he is elected and refutes claims he is too nice to take on the role.
Van Praag - a former president of Dutch side Ajax - added: "Who says I'm not the favourite? It's the media who say I'm not the favourite.
"People who say I'm nice only know me from the outside. People I've been working with over the years know how I can also be.
"I used to have an international company with 400 people so I know that sometimes as a CEO you also have to be not very nice. I'm not afraid of that.
"Being nice makes it easy to unite people and that is exactly the problem we are facing today. A lot of stakeholders feel they are not heard or part of the family.
"There's only one big problem and that is the fact we didn't have a president for 11 months.
"A lot of contacts with external stakeholders have not been taken care of in the way they should be. That is the problem."
Ceferin is expected to pull in between 30 and 40 votes of the 55 being cast and appears to have significant backing from many of the major nations including Germany, Russia, France and Italy - the Scottish FA confirmed on Tuesday that it intends to support Ceferin.
It has been claimed he has the backing of FIFA president Gianni Infantino - something which is prohibited - but the Slovenian maintains he is his own man.
He said: "When somebody from Slovenia without a football background comes to a position of public support from more than 30 countries, people seek conspiracy theories.
"One day I am the man of Gianni Infantino, the next I am Michel Platini's man then a puppet of the Russians or the Italians.
"It is hard for people to understand it is just the right time - it is time for a change obviously and people want new faces and new ideas.
"We'll see who wins tomorrow. It's easy to be the favourite before an election. The most important thing is we have to work on transparency. We have to work on safety, security, the fight against match fixing, racism - many things."
