Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona has decided to stand as a
candidate for the FIFA presidency to replace Sepp Blatter, Uruguayan
journalist and author Victor Hugo Morales has said.
Morales said
Maradona had told him of his intention when he called the former coach
of the Argentina
national team to check on the condition of his sick
father on Sunday.
"He told me he was going to run for president of FIFA and authorised me to inform," Morales posted in Spanish on his twitter feed.
'I am a candidate' were the two words Diego Maradona used to answer
me when I consulted him about the
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month suggested Maradona become the next FIFA president.
Maradona,
54, has long been a trenchant critic of Blatter and last month said he
was "enjoying" the corruption scandal that led the Swiss to announce he
would stand down at an extraordinary congress of soccer's world
governing body.
ike Brazilian Zico, another great former player who has announced his
candidacy, Maradona might struggle to get the support of federations
from five countries, as required under FIFA statutes.
Liberia
Football Association Chairman Musa Bility is the other candidate
announced so far for a ballot likely to take place later this year or in
early 2016.
Morales is famous around Latin America for his
passionate commentary of Maradona's wonder goal against England at the
1986 World Cup. Maradona led Argentina to their second World Cup triumph
in that tournament.
The pair hosted a TV show together for Venezuelan station Telesur during last year's World Cup in Brazil.
Reuters
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