By Andrew Warshaw
March 9 – FIFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag says he and fellow contender Luis Figo have no chance of dethroning Sepp Blatter unless one of them pulls out of the running in the weeks ahead.
The Dutch FA chief says Europe should go into the May 29 election with one unified candidate to stand a realistic chance of upsetting the odds and removing Blatter.
And that, he suggested, is what UEFA president Michel Platini also believes.
“That’s what I think and Michel Platini too,” Van Praag was quoted as saying by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, reflecting the views of many neutral observers though others argue the more candidates, the better.
“What Figo thinks about that I don’t know but it would be much better for Europe if we presented one candidate.”
Van Praag, like Blatter and the two other candidates bidding for the FIFA presidency (the other is Jordan’s outgoing Fifa vice-president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein), began his lobbying campaign at the Conmebol congress last week. On his return from Paraguay, he insisted he had the best European chance of causing an upset and that Figo’s decision to stand as well would fall into the hands of Blatter.
“All the South American member association presidents wanted to take their photo with him. But they didn’t want to say if they would vote for him,” van Praag said.
Van Praag and Figo share similar ideas but their respective manifestos also throw up key differences, not least over the amount of money to distribute to FIFA’s national federations.
“I want to hand over one million Euros (annually) but Figo wants to double that,” van Praag was quoted as saying in a series of interviews. “That would bankrupt FIFA. A million is the most that can be disbursed without putting FIFA in danger.”
Contrary to some reports, van Praag believes he managed to wrest potentially vital support among the 10 South American federations away from Blatter. He says at least two have promised to back him.
“I’m glad to notice that everyone, without any exception, is in favour of change at FIFA. Nine out of 10 times they started saying that by themselves.”
With the way FIFA spends its money a key factor in the election process, van Praag, who led a collective anti-Blatter UEFA stance just before last year’s FIFA Congress, stepped up his criticism of the veteran Swiss.
“Why did Sepp Blatter have to travel to South America in a private jet when there are good air connections between Europe and South America?
“There is far too much spent on travel, salaries and tournament costs. It is our money. The money of the national associations. That’s what I’ve been telling everybody.”
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