Van Praag talks of backtracking voters as Ceferin set for victory

ATHENS: Dutchman Michael van Praag complained of backtracking voters on Tuesday as his rival Aleksander Ceferin appeared to be heading for victory in Wednesday’s

ATHENS: Dutchman Michael van Praag complained of backtracking voters on Tuesday as his rival Aleksander Ceferin appeared to be heading for victory in Wednesday’s UEFA presidential election.

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The Slovenian has had more than 30 public declarations of support among the 55 national FAs who will vote in the election, including major ones such as Germany, France and Italy.

Dutchman Van Praag has only received four public declarations of backing in his bid to head the European soccer’s governing body and said he might have been victim of the old way of doing business, although he was refusing to throw in the towel.

The winner will replace disgraced Frenchman Michel Platini, who headed UEFA for eight years until he was banned from the sport for four years last year by FIFA’s ethics committee for unethical conduct.

Despite his ban Platini has been granted permission to address Wednesday’s Congress — to be held at a luxury resort situated on a private peninsula near Athens — in what the ethics committee described as a “gesture of humanity”.

Both candidates have promised to help the smaller countries and leagues in the face of a growing divide between a handful of big clubs and the rest.