By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – Will he or won’t he? With 24 hours to go until the deadline for nominations for UEFA presidential candidates, there has still been no official confirmation that the man who has been running the show on an interim basis will be putting his name forward to replace Michel Platini in September.
For weeks, speculation has been rife that veteran UEFA and FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar will throw his hat into the ring but with so much turmoil surrounding his position at home, there must now be serious doubts about whether the controversial Spaniard would command enough support among UEFA’s 55 voting members
Netherlands boss Michael van Praag and Slovenia’s Aleksandar Ceferin have already declared their candidacies for the September 14 election but Villar remains on the fence – publically at least.
Speaking last week, he said he had received considerable backing but stopped short of saying he planned to run.
“Many leaders in European football have urged me to go forward for the UEFA presidency,” Villar said. “I appreciate their support and it is a great honour for someone who represents Spanish football to represent the European game.”
As UEFA’s most senior official, Villar performed the ceremonial honours in place of Platini at Euro 2016 but his notorious resistance to reform has put him at odds with football’s modernists and electing him would be a considerable risk for the future credibility of UEFA.
Ceferin claims to have the support of 18 nations including much of eastern Europe and Scandinavia but van Praag, who for a while was a FIFA presidential candidate to replace Sepp Blatter before pulling out, will start as favourite as a safe pair of hands, with the winner finishing off Platini’s term until 2019.
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