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Diego Maradona has become just the latest football legend to throw his name in the hat for FIFA presidency as the world cup winner has joined the race to succeed interim president Sepp Blatter.
According to Uruguayan broadcaster Victor Hugo Morales, Maradona has now decided to stand for presidency of FIFA when world football’s governing body holds their general election sometime later this year or in early 2016.
Morales had called Diego to check in on his father’s health and was told by Maradona that the former Argentina captain and manager intended to run for presidency of FIFA.
Morales tweeted: “I called Diego Maradona to check on his father’s health. He told me that he would be a candidate for president of FIFA and that I was authorised to communicate it.
“I am a candidate: those were the words that Diego Maradona replied when I consulted him for the nomination for the presidency of FIFA.”
Like many former professional footballers, Maradona has been very outspoken when it comes to talking about Sepp Blatter’s reign as head of FIFA, with the 54-year-old Argentine launching a scathing attack on FIFA’s president in May, just weeks before many of the organisation’s top officials were arrested on corruption charges in Zurich.
“Under Sepp Blatter, FIFA has become a disgrace and a painful embarrassment to those of us who care about football deeply.
“We have a dictator for life. I call Blatter ‘the man of ice’ because he lacks the inspiration and passion that are at the very heart of football. If this is the face of international football, we are in a very bad place.”
While Maradona’s criticisms of Blatter and his reign as president are fair, is Maradona the answer to FIFA’s problems and is it Diego’s face that we want as the beacon of international football?
His footballing credentials are impeccable and stand up there with just about anyone to ever play the game, but his personal life, his much publicised financial issues, his battles with drug addiction and not to mention his political affiliation with communist Cuba and the fact he has a tattoo of Fidel Castro on his left leg, is Maradona the man FIFA should hang their hat on?
Similar to his career as a player, Maradona is a flawed genius. His battle with drug addiction denied his potential to be an even better footballer than what he already was and his erratic behaviour as a man can often get in the way of what are otherwise noble efforts.
Maradona has helped open soccer academy’s in India, has argued wealth disparity with Popes and played in charity matches around the globe. By the same token he has also likened Louis Van Gaal to the devil, has pushed, kicked and even shot at reporters, has been sent home from World Cups and has had a decorated history of disputes within organisations – from his playing days at Barcelona right up until his coaching career with Argentina.
Maradona will have to gain nominations from at least five of the 209 national associations which make up FIFA in order to run for president, and if he can manage to get backing from those federations he will most likely then run against Brazilian legend Zico and Liberia FA chairman Musa Bility. However, most of those viewed as serious contenders are waiting until FIFA’s July 20th decision on the date of the election before announcing whether to run.
Diego Maradona running for FIFA presidency isn’t unusual given the bizarreness of what has happened to FIFA over the last couple of months, but if there is one man to clean up the world’s most popular game it is not Diego Armando Maradona.
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