The President's Man

As president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino is not allowed to meddle in UEFA affairs. Josimar can reveal that he is using his right-hand man, Kjetil Siem, as campaign manager in a secret play to gain power over UEFA. In the shadows, Kjetil Siem is working to secure that the unknown Aleksander Čeferin of Slovenia is elected president of UEFA. By Andreas Selliaas, Pål Ødegård and Håvard Melnæs Translated into English by Lars Johnsen The same weekend Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid played the Champions League final at the San Siro, the football associations of the Nordic countries had a meeting that could have deciding importance on the future of European football. All the presidents of the Nordic associations were in Milan for the meeting; Karl-Erik Nilsson of Sweden, Jesper Møller of Denmark, Terje Svendsen of Norway, Geir Thorsteinsson of Iceland, Christian Andreasen of the Faeroe Islands and Pertti Alaja of Finland. UEFA had booked two hotels for the final match of their showpiece club tournament, and in a meeting room in one of them, the presidents convened to discuss the UEFA presidential election due on 14 September. At the time of the Milan meeting, no-one had officially announced they were running for the highest-ranking post in all of European football. Though, only six days after the Milan discussions, four of the six Nordic associations endorsed Aleksander Čeferin as the candidate who would get their votes. A JOSIMAR INVESTIGATION *Gianni Infantino wants Aleksander Čeferin as UEFA president *Infantino’s strategic advisor Kjetil Siem has actively worked to gather votes for Čeferin *The Nordic countries were the first to endorse Čeferin. In return Sweden has been promised a seat on the UEFA board and the pos...