The Netherlands have confirmed Michael van Praag will run for the FIFA presidency.
Blatter challenged UEFA to put up a candidate or respect his desire to continue as president last week, and the confederation has now responded by confirming that Dutchman Michael van Praag will stand.
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The Dutch FA’s site (knvb.nl) says in a statement, “Tomorrow, [van Praag’s] official candidacy letter, accompanied by the required five declarations of support from national associations backing Mr. Van Praag’s candidacy, will be sent to FIFA headquarters in Zurich.”
Van Praag himself added “It’s widely known that I’m very worried about FIFA. It is about time that the organisation is normalised and that its full focus is back on football. For quite some time, I was hoping that another credible challenger would put himself forward, but that simply has not happened. In that case, one should not confine oneself to words, but follow them up with deeds and decisiveness, which is why I now announce my candidacy.”.
It is believed that England, France, Sweden, Poland and Germany are among the five countries to support his candidacy.
Here is van Praag confirming the news [Dutch]: