MX23RW : Saturday, September 28 04:19:10| >> :600:295217947:295217947:

Michael van Praag to step down as FIFA presidential candidate?

FIFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag could pull out of the race to dethrone Sepp Blatter in order to pool support behind a single challenger.

The president of the Dutch Football Association, Michael van Praag, could reportedly step down from his bid to challenge Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA.

Van Praag is one of three challengers to Blatter's position and is considering standing aside in an attempt to pool unified support behind one candidate.

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein is widely regarded as the biggest threat to the incumbent Blatter, but it is understood that he is still some way short of garnering enough promises of support for victory.

That has led Van Praag and fellow candidate Luis Figo to discuss pulling out of the race in the hope that their backers switch allegiance to Prince Ali in order to dethrone Blatter.

"We can confirm that there have been discussions between the candidates regarding the possibility to join forces," said a spokesman for Van Praag.

"Our shared, collective goal is to achieve change within FIFA – it is good that there is a growing international coalition striving for that goal. That is our main focus now, it is too soon to talk about which candidate might have the biggest chance."

Blatter has been in charge of world football's governing body for 17 years and had previously promised to make his current term his last before performing a U-turn.

ID:223914: cacheID:223914:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2289:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
President of FIFA, Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter, gives a press conference following a meeting of the FIFA task force with Paletestinian and Israelian football federations in Zurich, on September 3, 2013
Read Next:
Figo: 'Blatter is living in the past'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City5410135813
2Liverpool5401101912
3Aston Villa5401107312
4Arsenal532083511
5Chelsea5311115610
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle531176110
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton52308449
8Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest52306429
9Fulham52217528
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs52129547
11Manchester UnitedMan Utd52125507
12Brentford520379-26
13Bournemouth512258-35
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham511359-44
15Leicester CityLeicester503268-23
16Crystal Palace503247-33
17Ipswich TownIpswich503238-53
18Southampton501429-71
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves5014514-91
20Everton5014514-91


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!