FOOTBALL

Infantino aide backed candidate in Uefa presidential election

FIFA president Infantino is former secretary general of UEFA
FIFA president Infantino is former secretary general of UEFA
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The election of Uefa’s new president next week will take place against a background of controversy after claims that one of Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s closest advisers campaigned on behalf of the front-runner, Aleksander Ceferin from Slovenia.

Kjetil Siem, who was named Fifa’s director of strategy in May, urged Nordic associations to back Ceferin two weeks after the Norwegian’s appointment was announced. Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland later announced their backing for Ceferin, who is running against Michael van Praag, of the Netherlands, and Ángel María Villar, of Spain, in the election, which takes place in Athens on September 14.

Siem has confirmed that he pushed Ceferin’s claims at a meeting in Milan before the Champions League final, but both he and Fifa say that