It appears that Sepp Blatter will have an easier time in his campaigns and elections for the FIFA presidential election which is set to be held in May the 20th. Luis Figo joined Michael Praag in stepping down as candidates and potential opponents to Sepp who has been on the position for quite some time now.
The former Portugal midfielder pulled out the very day Van Praag 67 years of age. This now leaves Blatter with one opponent, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan. Blatter will be on the seat for his fifth term if he wins and Figo said that the election is just like any other. He however said that he declined the race on his personal terms as the process entitles absolute power to one man something that he was not comfortable with.
The election process involves the president of the federation being voted by 209 Fifa association members and after his withdrawal from the race Van Praag declared his support for Prince Ali. Van Praag holds the presidential position in the Dutch Football Association. Ali is seemingly having support from the English Football Association and this would therefore mean the Scottish F.A would have his back as well as they had declared support for Van Praag.
Van Praag assured his support for Prince Ali in a joint news conference that was held in Amsterdam on Thursday. He urged his supporters to back Prince Ali saying that Prince Ali had proved beyond doubt that he was the right man to take the seat and challenge Blatter who has been the President since 1998.
In his withdrawal statement Figo said it was important to embrace change in the presidency of the federation. He added that through his vast travelling and experience he had seen how the federation had done a lot but it was important for the leadership to change to clear the federation of all the corruption allegation linked to it by changing the presidential candidate.
Figo went ahead to question to Blatter’s candidacy saying that he had not yet presented his manifesto so as for the members to know what type of leadership they were voting in. He added that Blatter had not participated in any public debate and neither has any other candidate.
This withdrawals comes among others this year including Jerome Champagne from France who pulled out in February, David Ginola who also pulled out two weeks after he announced that he was ready to challenge Blatter.
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