NYON, Switzerland -- The Champions League final could be contested outside Europe for the first time, new UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said Thursday.In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Ceferin said he will revive an open bidding process for the right to host the climax to the European club season and is open to the game being staged in New York.Iit might be an idea in future but we have to speak about it, Ceferin said, highlighting how travel times across Europe can be as long as flights to the United States. To go from Portugal to Azerbaijan for example is almost the same or the same as if you go to New York. For the fans its no problem but we should see. Its a European competition so lets think about it.UEFA could gauge the appetite for taking its major finals beyond Europe by first experimenting with the less-regarded Super Cup, which is played in August between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League.UEFA has until now been awarding the honor of staging its showpiece finals without any tendering process, with stadium hosts decided in secret by the leadership.The bidding process should be very clear because if you get the Champions League finals or Europa League finals as a political favor then its not OK, Ceferin said. With a clear bidding procedure I will protect also the administration and myself because whoever tries to call us, to push us, to ask us for such a favor we will have a clear answer, `Sorry, there are clear rules we cannot do it.In his first major interview since succeeding Michel Platini as UEFA president last month, Ceferin displayed a willingness to innovate while not damaging the organizations lucrative competitions.The Champions League is the best sporting product in the world, Ceferin said at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on the banks of Lake Geneva.And the former Slovenia federation president will not sacrifice the success of the competition by shifting kickoff times to pander to expanding soccer markets in Asia just to sweep up more television viewers or sponsors in the region. Games are always played in the evening in Europe, when much of Asia is asleep.From a financial point of view its not ideal, Ceferin said. We should think also about other markets, but how to do it exactly Im not sure yet. China is financially interesting and the U.S. is not just financially interesting, but football is growing there.Only the final is played on a Saturday, but one option would be to also move the semifinals from their current midweek slot.There are some ideas about that because then China is not asleep because its Saturday and they can watch, said Ceferin, whose presidential term runs until 2019. But there are many problems concerning that with the calendar of the leagues. National leagues are too important.You have the Premier League which is very strong. Its an idea (semifinals at the weekend) that came out but its too early to say anything concrete on it.While mulling modifications to the Champions League, Ceferin is also involved in talks on whether to expand the World Cup. In his first FIFA Council meeting last week since becoming one of the governing bodys vice presidents, Ceferin heard President Gianni Infantino propose boosting the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams.We didnt want to vote on it as it was too early, Ceferin said. We simply didnt get any information about it. Nothing. Just shall we expand or not. We said we cannot say.Ceferin is awaiting proper analysis on the merits of such a significant overhaul of the tournament. He is already certain Europe should gain a fair share of the additional 16 places rather than expansion being used to correct disparities between how the slots are currently split between the six confederations.Thirteen teams qualify for the World Cup from the 55-nation UEFA region and Ceferin believes that fans in North America and Asia prefer to watch our teams.If you put it to a vote (on the number of additional UEFA places) we might lose but we are the strongest confederation, nobody should forget that -- strongest in quality and all other aspects, Ceferin said. We have the best national teams. So I doubt they will outvote us.Ceferin said UEFA doesnt want to hurt the other confederations but sees additional European teams as adding to the quality of the World Cup.I know everyone is afraid of playing Europe in the playoffs, he said. I can understand them but if you are afraid of playing someone that team is probably better so that team deserves to go (to the World Cup).UEFA has already ceded ground on the 2026 World Cup, with Ceferin approving FIFA blocking Europe from bidding given the 2018 tournament is in Russia. North America is now the favorite to host the event for the first time since the 1994 World Cup in the United States.It would really be hard for me to say it would be good if it goes to North America or Africa, Ceferin said. But given the infrastructure possibilities, probably Africa will have a hard time to place a serious bid.---Rob Harris can be followed at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports Discount Air Max 270 UK . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Clearance Air Max 270 Uk . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. http://www.cheapairmax270uk.com/ . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Air Max 270 Sale UK . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Air Max 270 Sale Cheap . PETERSBURG, Fla.MIAMI -- With six simple words, LeBron James explained the philosophy behind the way he now plays the game. "Ive done more and lost before." Such was the response to a question presented to him Saturday -- one day before he and the Miami Heat take on the San Antonio Spurs and try to even the NBA Finals at a game apiece -- about the perception that he needs to be more aggressive at times. It was almost as though he was waiting for such a query, because he had his answer at the ready. In short, James has put up awesome numbers in past playoffs but never got the awesome result he sought for nearly a decade until last season, when he and the Heat won a title. "When I was in Cleveland we played Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals and I think I averaged 38, 36, or whatever I averaged," James said, referring to the 2009 series where he averaged 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8 assists. "I guess I should have done more in that series as well. But I cant. ... I do whats best for the team. Whats best for the team, it doesnt always result in a win." Case in point: Orlando won that series in six games. Case in point again: James had a triple-double, one of the longtime gold standards in defining an outstanding all-around basketball game, in Game 1 of these finals against the Spurs -- an 18-point, 18-rebound, 10-assist effort. But it came in a loss in which he took only 16 shots, so the second-guessing was predictable and prevalent. And on Saturday, James style of play got defended -- not just by those on his side, but also by the guy leading the other side. "Hes a grown man," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He doesnt need any of you to tell him anything. He knows more than all of you put together. He understands the game. If he makes a pass and you all think he should have shot it, or he shoots it and you think he should have made a pass, your opinions mean nothing to him, as they should not mean anything to him." James will be judged by history when he leaves the game. But for now, hes often judged against his own history. Perhaps the most memorable game of his Miami tenure was Game 6 of last seasons Eastern Conference finals at Boston, when he put up a 45-point, 15-rebound effort to simply dominate the Celtics and force a Game 7 -- which the Heat won for a trip to the NBA Finals. Its often forgotten that he scored 45 points in a playoff game at Boston once before, in what was the final game of Clevelands 2007-08 season. "The Game 6 in Boston, I mean, that was LeBron James Show," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said.dddddddddddd. "We did our job defensively, but we gave him the ball and got ... out of the way. That was the moment, us being able to go into that game and for him to perform the way he did and us being able to dominate the way we did, that was the moment I said, Yeah, were a championship team." Still, Wade was asked, isnt it unfair to expect that level of James in every game? "Well, yeah," Wade said. "But LeBron can do whatever he wants. He can control the game in any number of ways." James created a stir during this years East finals when he said he had to revert to his Cleveland way of thinking and assume more of the offensive workload. That was when Chris Bosh was struggling and Wade was particularly slowed by the right knee pain that hes battled -- unsuccessfully at times -- for about three months. After all, when he left Cleveland as a free agent after seven seasons and came to Miami in 2010, he said he wanted to be part of a better overall team that could contend every year for titles. And clearly, given that the Heat are in the finals for the third time in three seasons and have a chance to win back-to-back titles, hes gotten his wish. "I wish we could go 16-0 in the playoffs," James said. "That would be awesome. Theres challenges that come from the game. You learn from game to game in ways that you can get better. I want to win just as bad as anyone. Im going to put myself and my team in a position to win. I have to try to make the plays. I cant worry about if people are saying, You should have done more, you should have been more aggressive because you got a loss." As for whats in store for Game 2, James insists he does not know. He often has said he doesnt predetermine how hes going to play -- try to score more, pass more -- before a game and just lets the flow and what his team ultimately needs be his guide. And hes reiterated that stance between Games 1 and 2 of this series. As long as Miami wins, his stat line, he insists, will not matter. "The Spurs did a good job of shrinking the floor ... so if thats their game plan, were going to continue to exploit that," James said. "And I believe our guys will be there to knock those shots down. But theres also a few plays I could have been more aggressive as well. But Game 1, I think I improve as the series goes on as well, seeing ways I can be more aggressive from possession to possession." ' ' '