Three candidates have been cleared to run for the seat of FIFA president. The contenders are seeking to end the reign of current FIFA president Sepp Blatter in May, and one of the candidates Prince Ali bin al-Hussein is certain to unseat Blatter after getting the backing of the United States of America.
Standing in Blatter’s way are; Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein from the Asian federation; Michael van Praag, Dutch football chief; Luis Figo, a former world player of the year.
If he does succeed, Blatter will embark on a fifth-straight term as the leading figure in world soccer and he will be in charge of FIFA for another four years.
Along with Prince Ali are two other candidates who have met the requirements to become FIFA president. They are the head of the Dutch FA Michael van Praag and former World Player of the Year and Portuguese legend Luis Figo.
Luis Figo
Figo served on the Uefa Football Committee from 2011 to 2015, played as a winger for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale before retiring in 2009. The 42-year-old is understood to already have the minimum five nominations.
The former Real Madrid and Barcelona forward announced his intention to run against incumbent Blatter.
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein
The Jordanian prince is a FIFA vice president with an impeccable reputation and track record.
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein revealed the U.S. Soccer Federation is one of the six national associations, which nominated him to stand against Blatter.
During the launch of his campaign in London, Prince Ali, also named Georgia, Malta, England, Belarus and his own nation of Jordan as the other countries backing him to succeed and oust Blatter after decades of alleged bribery and corruption on his watch as the leading figure of world soccer’s governing body.
Despite being backed by the English FA and the U.S. it will still be tough going for Prince Ali to oust Blatter who is widely expected to breeze to yet another win in FIFA’s presidential elections on May 29 in Switzerland.
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Michael van Praag
Former chairman of Ajax and current head of the Dutch FA, van Praag is an outspoken critic of Blatter. The 67-year-old has said he has the backing of Belgium, Sweden, Scotland, Romania, the Faroe Islands and the Netherlands.
Sepp Blatter
The Fifa election will see Blatter running for a fifth term as president, a role he has been in since 1998.
Blatter is the current president of Fifa. He was elected in 1998. He was re-elected as president in 2002, 2007 and 2011. Despite fierce criticism, Blatter remains extremely popular among Fifa delegates in Africa, Asia, Oceania and large sections of Latin America.
Following the likes of Michael van Praag, Luis Figo announcing their interest to challenge Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term as FIFA president, Figo might be the most credible and ideal challenger to the current incumbent.
In reality, the Real Madrid icon’s attempt to usurp the much-maligned Blatter is likely a tactic from UEFA boss Michel Platini’s much wider anti-Blatter campaign.
Figo said his decision to stand against Blatter came about after he became disillusioned by world football’s governing body’s refusal to publish the report into alleged corruption surrounding the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
There may be a long way to go before he emerges as a genuine threat to Blatter, but it is certainly more evident that the footballing world as a whole has grown fed up with the image and the sound-bites offered by Blatter and his FIFA organisation.
Luis Figo entered the race to challenge Sepp Blatter in the FIFA presidential election – but with the number of candidates, the odds increasing in Sepp Blatter’s favour?
Blatter is the strong favourite to get a fifth presidential term in the 29 May ballot, despite bribery and financial scandals, which have implicated several of his executive committee colleagues.
