GENEVA -- After declaring FIFAs image crisis over four months ago, questions are being raised about Gianni Infantino as he heads to world soccers next big election.The FIFA president will be a guest in Athens on Wednesday as his former UEFA colleagues vote to replace Michel Platini, who was ousted after the FIFA ethics committee banned him for taking a $2 million payment from Sepp Blatter.The favorite to become the next UEFA president is Aleksander Ceferin of Slovenia, who was so little known before the campaign that many wonder if Infantino and his staff have intervened to support him. Ceferin will be up against UEFA vice president Michael van Praag of the Netherlands, an outspoken critic of Blatter in recent years.I am neutral. The FIFA president is neutral in any election at confederation level, Infantino said. This is very clear.Infantino said his staff also has not acted, dismissing reports in Dutch and Scandinavian media that one of his FIFA advisers, who is from Norway, has lobbied for Ceferin. Van Praag reportedly sought a meeting in May in Milan to ask Infantino if he had chosen sides.Ceferins campaign for UEFA president emerged in May, soon after Infantino joined his former UEFA colleagues on a trip to Slovenia to open a national soccer center. Weeks later, FIFA appointed Tomaz Vesel as an independent auditor overseeing its billion-dollar annual income -- and Infantinos salary and bonuses. Vesel is also from Slovenia and plays on a veterans soccer team with Ceferin.Mark Pieth, a former FIFA reform adviser, said he was skeptical of claims that Infantino has changed the FIFA culture after years of scandal and murky decision-making.There is no `new FIFA, Pieth told The Associated Press. Its a bit of a variation on what we have been used to. Here, its blatant cronyism.UEFA is the richest and most influential of soccers six continental bodies. It organizes the Champions League, which showcases most of the worlds best players. The European Championship draws a global TV audience for the final that is more than double that of the Super Bowl.The next UEFA president will serve the final 2+ years of Platinis term. The winner also becomes a FIFA vice president, helps shape strategy in the FIFA Council, and supports Infantino in urgent rulings made by the confederation heads.Infantino came to power after a cycle of turmoil that started in May 2015 when American and Swiss federal authorities revealed an investigation into bribery and corruption. A generation of FIFA leaders were removed from office, including Blatter and one-time protege Platini.Van Praag, a former club president of four-time European champion Ajax, is an election veteran compared to Ceferin. He opposed Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2015, defying a UEFA strategy to unseat the incumbent but struggled to get support from his colleagues. He withdrew days before the vote, leaving Prince Ali of Jordan as the sole challenger.Ceferin, a criminal lawyer, joined the board of Olimpija Ljubljana before being elected Slovenian soccer federation president in 2011. He later joined the FIFA disciplinary committee.The 48-year-old Ceferin is untainted by FIFAs past excesses, but his clear link to Vesel, the governing bodys new audit and compliance committee chairman, has caused concern.FIFA rules state the job of overseeing how it earns and spends its World Cup revenue can only go to a person with no material financial relationship to a member federation. It was done until May by Domenico Scala, a pharmaceutical industry executive who resigned amid disputes with Infantino, including a no-bonus rule for the president.Vesel, however, could within days be responsible for setting the FIFA salary of his teammate on the soccer team in the Slovene capital.Pieth, a compliance expert, said the Slovenia link was less camouflaged than in the Blatter era.There is a personal friendship, Pieth told the AP. Theres not a general rule against that kind of thing but its simple patronage. Its clear.Infantino dismissed such doubts when asked if the institutional independence of Vesel, Slovenias state auditor, could be compromised by his connection to Ceferin.Everyone plays football, everybody loves football, Infantino said last week. Its good that people (who) love football work in football as well.I just hope that the one who will be elected will work in a positive way with me as well, Infantino added. A strong FIFA needs a strong UEFA. 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The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers may as well have won the NBA championship when they dethroned the Boston Celtics in the east. The delirious Sixers fans stormed the court and swarmed Wilt Chamberlain. One fan even hung on a rim as the players hustled past outstretched arms to the locker room.The Sixers popped champagne against the backdrop of a fan-made 1967 NBA champions poster tacked to the wall.The Celtics dynasty -- for a year, at least -- was dead.Long live the Sixers.Chamberlain, the agile and dominant center of his era, put an end to the hooting and hollering and silenced the Eastern Division championship revelry with a brief speech: Philadelphia still had one more goal to achieve.The room got very quiet, Sixers great Billy Cunningham said.Chamberlains big point was this -- the Sixers didnt win 68 games and knock off the hated Celtics just to squander their shot at an NBA championship. The Sixers would have to win it all to truly stamp themselves as one of the NBAs all-team great teams.Hal Greer, Chet Walker and Wali Jones joined Cunningham and Chamberlain to lead the Sixers to a six-game series clinch over the San Francisco Warriors and win the NBA championship.The Sixers (68-13) were the top team in `67, and considered by many the best NBA team in history. The Sixers were tabbed the greatest team of all time in 1980 during the NBAs 35th anniversary celebration.That honor came before Larry and Magic. Michael and LeBron. Kobe and Duncan.There are a lot of historical points that people dont know now because people dont know any basketball before Bird and Magic, Jones said. I tell them about a lot of people from that times and our team in our era, a lot of people dont know.After 40 years, we were forgotten. Nobody said, `who was the greatest team in the NBA? and mentioned us.They havent been forgotten in Philly.The Sixers turned this season into a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of that championship team. The Sixers have worn throwback jerseys inspired by the 1966-67 road uniforms, have the year stamped on a commemorative center court logo at select games and designed sculptures for Chamberlain, Cunningham and Greer. The Sixers will honor seven living players from the team at halftime of Saturday nights game against, yup, Boston.Its good to remembered, Jones said.What perhaps isnt remembered as easily from the black-and-white era was the climb the Sixers made just to beat Boston. The Celtics, winners of nine of 10 NBA titles in the 1960s, had eliminated the Sixers in the Division (now conference) finals in 1965 and 1966. Winning a championship seemed almost like it held second place on the season list of goals behind beating the Celtics in the postseason.Trying to spark a change, the Sixers replaced coach Dolph Schayes with Alex Hannum. Hannum had coached the organization in its previous incarnation as the Syracuse Nationals and was familiar with most of the roster.He just brought immediate respect to the coaching position, Cunningham said.dddddddddddd He just had a presence. There was a certain personality with him that gave players a great deal of respect for his decision making.Hannum was helped by coaching a team loaded with talent: Chamberlain, Cunningham, Greer and Walker are all in the Hall of Fame. With so much star power, Chamberlain morphed from something of a lone wolf on offense to a prominent cog on a team where it was no longer necessary for The Stilt to try and carry the Sixers on his own.The Sixers started 52-8 and had just one three-game losing streak all season.If Chamberlain could have shot foul shots, we would have won 70 games, easily, Cunningham said with a laugh.But five of their losses were against Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek and the Celtics. The road to the title would again go through Boston. This time, the Sixers were ready.Philly beat Oscar Robertson and the Cincinnati Royals in four games to reach the East finals. The Sixers won the first three games and lost Game 4 in Boston. The Philly fans were restless to finish the job at home and a banner was raised at the Convention Center that read No. 4 Now!Pennsylvania governor Raymond Shafer watched Game 5 with general manager Jack Ramsay and owner Irv Koslof in nervous anticipation of what was ahead. Five Sixers scored at least 21 points and they beat the Celtics 140-116 to set off a celebration.I really felt as though this was the greatest Celtics team, so beating this team I think helped to make up for the other losses we had over the years, Chamberlain, who died in 1999, said after the series.Beating Boston gave the Sixers a championship feeling.It meant so much to beat Boston because the dynasty was just dominating, Jones said. People dont understand the importance in the NBA to stop that dynasty and have some other team sneak in there.The finals seemed a mere formality and the Sixers topped Nate Thurmond, Rick Barry and the Warriors in six games.The Sixers were mobbed by fans at the airport and greeted by a sign that read, Boston bled, now the Warriors are dead.Chamberlain had the team autograph the game ball and gave the basketball to Michael Richman, who handled payroll, and whose father Ike had owned the team and helped bring the franchise to Philly. Ike Richman died of a heart attack in 1965 at a 76ers-Celtics game.When Wilt got off the plane, he flipped me the ball and said, `this is for your mother, the 75-year-old Richman said.The championship ball is still with the Richman family.The Sixers never blossomed into a dynasty and wouldnt win a championship again until Cunningham coached them to one in 1983.Theyve had great teams, Jones said. But we were the greatest.---This story has been corrected to show that Ike Richman died in 1965, not 1966. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '