UEFA presidential candidate Aleksander Ceferin said that a European Super League "must not be allowed to happen and the gap between rich clubs and the rest must stop growing," according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. Ceferin, a Slovenian lawyer who faces Dutchman Michael van Praag in Wednesday's vote, said that small clubs "had been overlooked in the recent negotiations which led to major changes to UEFA's flagship competition." Ceferin: "First of all, we will do everything that Super League never happens. I'm not sure if the clubs want a Super League, they are just pushing it with threats ... and they succeeded." Ceferin said that he would make sure "all clubs were consulted in the future." He added, "Those changes are clearly not in favor of small and mid-sized associations. The process was not good. The clubs didn't know anything about it and that should be changed in the future." Ceferin said that UEFA "also needed to look at the way in which it distributes revenue." He said, "It's not easy because the revenue depends on results and television rights and I cannot pretend that UEFA gets the same amount of money for Slovenia than for Spain and Italy ... it is a problem" (REUTERS, 9/13).
VAN PRAAG PROMISES NEGOTIATIONS: Homewood reported in a separate piece Van Praag will reopen negotiations over the format for the Champions League if he is elected UEFA president on Wednesday, saying a breakaway league would take place "over my dead body." He said that he "helped avert a Super League during recent talks which ended with controversial changes made to the Champions League," UEFA's flagship competition, in favor of the big clubs. Van Praag faces Ceferin in Wednesday's election to find a replacement for Michel Platini. Ceferin has "collected more public declarations of support although Van Praag has refused to give up." UEFA last month opened up more places to teams from Europe's biggest four leagues -- Spain, England, Germany and Italy -- in the "lucrative group stage of the Champions League" and cut those allocated to the rest. Van Praag, who said that he was part of "early negotiations but not the final deal, said the domestic leagues and national football associations had been sidelined from the talks" but would be welcomed if they were re-opened under his leadership. He said, "I can tell you that if I am elected I will reopen negotiations but with the leagues and associations around the table as well. I'm not satisfied with the procedure. ... I'm unhappy because we find out now that not all stakeholders have been included" (REUTERS, 9/13).
