ATHENS, Greece -- UEFA and its top clubs have enraged the rest of the continent with an unacceptable, secret deal to guarantee more Champions League spots for the elite, according to the favorite to lead European football from Wednesday.In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, UEFA presidential candidate Aleksander Ceferin expressed his frustration that the governing body caved into the demands of Spain, Germany, England, and Italy to allow them to seize 16 of the 32 Champions League group-stage places.Ceferin viewed threats that leading clubs could break away to form a closed completion as a bluff, warning that a Super League for the elite and rich is out of the question, and would create a war with UEFA.Ceferin is challenging Michael van Praag of the Netherlands for the UEFA presidency in Wednesdays election. Although lacking experience in international football politics, the 48-year-old Slovenian federation head has swept up endorsements to complete the remaining three years of banned president Michel Platinis term. Ceferin said he has the public backing of 32 of UEFAs 55 members, while his Dutch rival has four so far.The winner of the vote in Athens will have to seek re-election before UEFAs next major event, the 2020 European Championship, which Ceferin said should never have been spread across the continent for the first time.Declaring himself as being not part of the football establishment, Ceferin is hoping his forthright approach can help him win over fans, whose trust in the sports leaders has plummeted after years of scandals at FIFA.Coming from an eastern European country of 2 million, the lawyer said he will have the interests of the whole continent at heart rather than just the powerful and wealthy.Ceferin is concerned lower-ranked leagues like Slovenia will suffer as a result of Spain, Germany, England, and Italy being guaranteed four Champions League places each from 2018-21, rather than 11 currently between them, following the deal in August.A document by the influential European Club Association, obtained by the AP, said UEFA accelerated the process in part to avoid interference with UEFA presidential election process (do not allow the topic to be subject of political capture).The problem is we didnt know anything that was going on -- that shouldnt happen again, Ceferin said. Its not frustrating just for me; its frustrating for all 55 national associations ... there was a group who decided, and the lack of communication is the main problem why clubs and national associations are mad now.The current qualification system, which makes one of the teams from the English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A contest a playoff to reach the Champions League group stage, is the ideal model, Ceferin said.(The Super League threat) is a bargaining chip, Ceferin said. I am sure they do not want to leave UEFA and UEFAs competitions. It would be boring to play in some closed league and it will mean war with UEFA. They pushed it more because we didnt have any leadership and that was a problem with UEFA.As delegates arrived in Athens for the vote, Van Praag -- a UEFA vice president -- also spoke out against the Champions League deal after missing the executive committee meeting that backed it last month.If I would be elected I would reopen the negotiations, Van Praag said.The former Ajax president said he went to ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to talk some sense in him and insisted: There will be a Super League over my dead body.Here are other issues discussed by Ceferin in his AP interview:---EURO 2020The European Championship has been staged only in one country or co-hosted by neighbors, but Platini decided to take the tournament across the continent to 13 cities for the first time in 2020.Its quite a risk for us. It will be a problem for fans to travel from one part of Europe to another. So I would prefer that it changes after 2020 because its a bit risky.POWERUEFA is not very broken -- public opinion is worse than actually UEFA is. We have to work on transparency. We have to adopt term limits for presidents and ExCo (executive committee) members because you cannot stay in a certain position for 20 years. We have seen in the recent past what is happening if you are there for too long. You think you own the organization.LEADERSHIPI am a new person, not part of the old establishment. I have new ideas. I am transparent. I have a good life at home. I have a very big law firm so I dont need it (the presidency) for my CV or to get something for me personally. We need a new wind also in European football.Asked if he will leave his law firm, Ceferin said: Its a bit hard to say but Im afraid the majority of the time I will need to be in Nyon (at UEFAs Swiss HQ).FIFAS HELPCeferin dismissed claims that advisers for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, UEFAs former general secretary, are lobbying to assist the campaign.One day Im Infantinos puppet, next day Im Platinis puppet, third day Im (a) Russian puppet, then Im (an) Italian puppet. Its obviously a problem for people to understand you can be independent ... some people are nervous because I get so much support.WOMENS FOOTBALLWe didnt do much about it. We are years in front of the USA concerning mens football but concerning womens football we are at least equal if not worse, so we have to work on that.---Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports Nike Free Discount .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. Nike Free Clearance . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. http://www.nikefreediscount.com/ . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Nike Free Clearance Sale . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. Nike Free Outlet Store . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. The most interesting College Football Playoff debate will most likely involve the Big Ten. The conference currently has four of the top eight teams in the CFP rankings, with the highest ranked of the bunch, Ohio State, having the worst chance of playing in the conference title game.And while the selection committee prizes conference championships, theres also no doubt that a one-loss Ohio State team, with wins over Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Michigan, will have the résumé to be a top-four team.What will the committee do? And what should it do? Our experts weigh in:Will a one-loss Ohio State team that doesnt make the Big Ten title game make the playoff? Should it?Andrea Adelson:?I do think a one-loss Ohio State team without a conference championship makes the playoff, but I would have a real problem if thhat meant the Big Ten was putting a two-loss conference champion into the playoff, too.ddddddddddddAt some point, the eye test has to come into play when evaluating every team with playoff chances. I understand all the data points, and those are great, to an extent. I understand wanting to give conference champions an edge, too. But give me the four best teams in the playoff. Period. Dont give me a conference champion just because. If the Buckeyes win out, they will absolutely be one of the top four teams in the country. But a conference title shouldnt magically guarantee a two-loss team a playoff spot if there are worthy one-loss teams the committee believes to be better. ' ' '