- Title: SOCCER-FIFA/PRAAG-FILE Van Praag withdraws from FIFA presidential bid
- Date: 21st May 2015
- Summary: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (FILE - MARCH 6, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VAN PRAAG TALKING TO JOURNALIST SIGN ON WALL, READING (English): "FOOTBALL FOR EVERYONE" VAN PRAAG TALKING TO JOURNALIST SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (FILE - JUNE 10, 2014) (REUTERS) VAN PRAAG, TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT OF THE DUTCH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, MICHAEL VAN PRAAG, SAYING: "Well Mr. Blatter officially announced that he had changed his mind regarding not running again. He confessed that a few years ago. He really said that it would be his last term but he said, 'OK I changed my mind', so I took that as an official confirmation that he will run so I took the floor and I told him that this was not a personal attack because I respect him, I know him a little bit personally. I like him as a person but the FIFA has an executive president and an executive president means that you are responsible, you have the final responsibility for what is happening in FIFA." CAMERAS FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT OF THE DUTCH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, MICHAEL VAN PRAAG, SAYING: "I think FIFA will come to a standstill because I also told him, and that is my true opinion, that people don't take him seriously anymore because now a few months ago he all of a sudden said the voting for Qatar was a mistake. That means that he blames all the others. Yesterday or the day before yesterday, he linked racism to the vote, how can you do that? And there are other examples of things that he said which I wouldn't have said if I was him, and that people don't expect the FIFA President to say." REPORTERS' PHONES RECORDING INTERVIEW GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (FILE - OCTOBER 23, 1998) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) MEETING OF EUROPE'S BIGGEST CLUBS IN PROGRESS THEN AJAX AMSTERDAM CHAIRMAN VAN PRAAG AT MEETING
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- Location: West bank
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA46R9DL459ABZJW0WYLBXVER3D
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- Story Text: FIFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag has withdrawn from next week's election and thrown his weight behind Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, he said on Thursday (May 21).
"Michael van Praag decided to withdraw his candidacy to become the next FIFA president and to join forces with presidential candidate Prince Ali Al Hussein," he said in a statement published by his campaign organisers on Thursday.
The Dutch FA president added that he had made the decision after "thorough deliberation and reflection with different involved parties and stakeholders" and would hold a news conference later on Thursday.
Van Praag's announcement has left Jordan's Prince Ali and former Portugal international Luis Figo as the only challengers to incumbent Sepp Blatter.
Blatter, 79, is runaway favourite to secure a fifth mandate at the election in Zurich on May 29, where each of FIFA's 209 member associations holds one vote.
Of Blatter's three challengers, Van Praag was the most outspoken critic of the Swiss administrator.
In March, he told UEFA's Congress that Blatter's opponents had a responsibility to "clean up the mess" and that "beautiful heritage of international football has been tarnished" by allegations of corruption. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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