FIFA presidential candidate Van Praag offers Blatter adviser role

Michael van Praag unveiled his plans to become FIFA' s next president during a press conference in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam on Wednesday, in which he stated that he wants current President Sepp Blatter to stay on as his advisor.

Last Tuesday Van Praag sent the official letter to the FIFA headquarters in Zurich to announce his candidacy to succeed Blatter as president of the international football governing body. The letter was accompanied by the required five declarations of support from national associations backing Van Praag' s candidacy.

"I sent FIFA support declarations from Belgium, Sweden, Scotland, Romania, the Faeroe Islands and the Netherlands," Van Praag said. "I know I have the support of more countries, but I only needed five, so I sent five, plus our own association support."

The 67-year-old Van Praag announced he would, if elected, only serve one term of four years. "This is because I want to make room for the next generation as soon as possible. Big steps can be taken in four years I know from my experience."

Van Praag, the son of former Ajax chairman Jaap van Praag, was chairman of Ajax from 1989 until mid-2003. He became president of the KNVB in 2008 and is a member of the Executive Committee of European football association UEFA since 2009.

Four other candidates have stated the intention to stand against Blatter during the elections: Frenchmen Jerome Champagne, who served as an FIFA executive from 1999 to 2010, and former football player David Ginola and Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, vice President of FIFA for Asia since 2011 and the latest addition, former Portugese soccer star Luis Figo. The deadline for nominations closes on Thursday.

Due to allegations about corruption the image of FIFA has been damaged in recent years. "Modernization is needed," said Van Praag. "FIFA has been under suspicion of nepotism and corruption constantly in recent years. Normalization is needed. Simple. FIFA should apply the instrument of a normalization committee to itself. FIFA should be transparent."

Last year already during an UEFA meeting, preceding the 64th FIFA congress in Sao Paulo, Van Praag called on Blatter to stand down at the end of his current term. The elections are due to take place at the 65th FIFA congress in Zurich, which starts on May 29 this year.

Blatter has been president of FIFA since 1998, when he succeeded the Brazilian Joao Havelange, and he is favorite to get a majority vote by the 209 FIFA member associations in these elections as well.

"I have nothing against Blatter," Van Praag added. "In fact, I like him a lot as a person. But someone who has led an organization for so many years and has become the face of this bad image, cannot be the face of modernization."

Van Praag already informed Blatter on his ambitions on January 9 this year. "I told him I want to modernize FIFA and I also told him I thought it was important to involve him in my plans as an adviser. It is about football. He could continue to leave behind his legacy. He responded negatively, but the offer still stands." Endi