February 27 – FIFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag steps up his campaign bid early next week by unveiling his manifesto on Monday – then flying straight to the Conmebol Congress in Paraguay to lobby for support.
Van Praag, head of the Dutch FA, will present his so-called ‘Normalisation agenda’ to his federation’s general assembly before a brief press conference after which he heads for South America, fertile lobbying ground for all four candidates in the May 29 election.
Van Praag intends to face the media again on his return to the Netherlands on Friday as he bids to make up ground on the other two candidates bidding to unseat Sepp Blatter, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein or Jordan and Portuguese icon Luis Figo, both of whom have already presented their vision for the future.
Van Praag, who led an outspoken European attack on Blatter ahead of last year’s World Cup in Brazil, said when he announced his candidacy last month: “It is well known that I am very worried about FIFA. It is high time that the organisation is fully normalised and puts its full focus back on football.
“For a time, I hoped that there would be a credible opponent, but that’s simply not happened. Then you must not only use words but also act decisively and take responsibility. Therefore I present myself now as a candidate.”
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