The former world footballer of the year Luis Figo has become the latest candidate to throw his hat into an increasingly crowded ring in the battle to unseat Sepp Blatter as Fifa president.
As Dutch FA president Michael van Praag outlined his credentials in Amsterdam, Figo unveiled his candidature and said he had the requisite five nominations from among Fifa’s 209 members.
“I look at the reputation of Fifa right now and I don’t like it. Football deserves better,” said the former Barcelona and Real Madrid player. “Football has given me so much during my life, and I want to give something back to the game.”
Figo, who is funding his own campaign, said the tipping point had been the chaos surrounding the suppression of Michael Garcia’s full report into the controversial bidding races for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
“Throughout my career I have worked at all levels of the game,” said Figo. “This has given me a unique insight and understanding that I feel can enhance the discussion about the future of Fifa and the future of football.”
The former Portuguese international was immediately backed by his compatriot, José Mourinho, who said: “Luis Figo’s candidacy is a great step forward for football. His career over many years grants a better future for Fifa.
“I believe in his character and determination, as well as his passion for the game. He will be a president focused on football and its general improvement, acting closely with all federations.”
Figo and Van Praag have joined Prince Ali of Jordan, who will be nominated by the English FA at a board meeting on Thursday, in emerging as contenders who will have gained the requisite nominations by Thursday’s deadline.
Former Fifa executive Jérôme Champagne, a one-time Blatter ally who has been campaigning for nearly a year, is still hoping to make it over the threshold. Ex France international David Ginola is also campaigning as part of a publicity stunt by a bookmaking firm. Meanwhile, football agent Mino Raiola said he had pulled out, while Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the former head of Fifa’s technical committee who had suggested he might run, said he had changed his mind.
The emergence of at least three credible opponents to Blatter will be seen as part of a “multi-ball” strategy that has been discussed by those who want to see the 78-year old Swiss unseated after 40 years at Fifa and 17 as president.
Uefa president Michel Platini, who decided against standing last year, hopes the strategy will help foment opposition to Blatter. It is likely that support will eventually coalesce behind one opponent to Blatter ahead of the vote on 29 May.
“Credible candidates with new ideas will hopefully add to an open debate in the campaign,” said a Uefa spokesman. “It is good for Fifa, and it is good for football to have valid candidates with extensive experience in the sport, and from different parts of the world.”
Van Praag kicked off his campaign by dangling a carrot to those confederations that have formed the bedrock of Blatter’s support in Africa, South America, Oceania, Asia and the Concacaf region by promising to enlarge the World Cup to include more countries from outside Europe. The uphill challenge faced by all pretenders to the presidency is in convincing those confederations, who have each benefitted down the years from Blatter’s Goal programme to redistribute the World Cup bounty, to turn their backs on him.
Van Praag said he had nothing against Blatter personally. “In fact I like him a lot as a person,” he said. “But someone who has led an organisation for so many years and has become the personification of its image can’t be the face of its modernisation operation or a new Fifa.”
Blatter, whose tenure has been marked by endless controversy and crises, has been president since 1998 and backtracked on a previous promise to make his current term his last.
Candidates need two-thirds of the votes for victory in a first round of secret balloting of the 209 members in Zurich at Fifa’s Congress in May, or a simple majority in subsequent rounds.
Van Praag, who announced he would only serve one term if he won, said he had told Blatter that he should step aside and take up a position as an adviser. He called for greater transparency of Fifa’s finances, including the president’s salary, and a “normalisation” programme to repair its battered reputation.
He denied there was any co-ordination with other anti-Blatter candidates. “I don’t know Prince Ali, I never met him. I don’t know Mr Figo either. I am happy to welcome other candidates. There is no co-ordination, I am doing it myself,” he said.
