April 14 – Ask two former legendary players from two different continents and you will likely get two different viewpoints on the upcoming FIFA presidential election.
Take Diego Maradona for example, he may be one of the finest footballers ever to grace the game but he has long courted controversy both during and since his playing days, and is at it again.
This time the Argentine legend has entered the FIFA presidential election debate by using some choice language in his desire to see the end of Sepp Blatter’s reign. Maradona, who has had a long-running feud with Blatter, is lending his support, for what it’s worth, to presidential candidate Vice President Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.
“I think we have many chances of kicking Blatter in the backside. No doubt,” said Maradona in an interview in Colombia.
While Maradona wants to kick his back side, others would apparently want to kiss it.
African football legend, Abedi Ayew Pele, is confident Africa and other federations across the world will overwhelmingly endorse Blatter because he remains the “best man for the job with a global view of football”.
Abedi maintains that Africa has a lot to gain with Blatter in charge of world football, having championed the rapid development of the game in the continent, and that he still remains dedicated to Africa.
“Blatter has done so much for African football; he understands very well the problems facing African football,” Abedi told Graphic Sports.
“We must ensure that whoever is coming [to take over the reins of FIFA] must first have a global view of the game and not just Eurocentric in his appreciation and approach, else the rest of the world would lag behind.
“Blatter has raised football to a high level and given everyone a say, including bringing on board ex-players and actors like myself, Platini, Beckenbauer and others to be deeply involved in strategic world football matters.”
Neither player has a vote in the election but their comments have, in different ways, showcased the battle arena both in tone and the underlying content message.
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