Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega says he intends to stand as a candidate in next year’s Fifa presidential election. The 55-year-old is the first person to confirm he want to challenge Gianni Infantino, who has defied calls to step down in the wake of his failed plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors, which has sparked a major backlash across football.
A former Switzerland centre-back, Vega also played for Celtic and Watford and has worked in finance since retiring from football in 2004. “I am standing to reunite the global football family, deliver genuine and lasting reform, modernise Fifa for the 21st Century, restore stability and credibility, and rebuild the trust that our game urgently needs,” he said (via BBC Sport.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa – president of the Asian Football Confederation – has written to Infantino, distancing himself from an external review of Fifa’s governance system. In his letter – seen by BBC Sport – Sheikh Salman proposes that Fifa’s council sets up a working group to examine potential reforms, “rather than being outsourced to an external party”.
Last month, Infantino said he was “fully committed to leading Fifa” despite Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation calling for him to quit. Vega considered running for Fifa’s top job in 2015 following the suspension of former president Sepp Blatter.
Also Read: ‘FIFA Aware DR Congo Fielded Ineligible Player Against Nigeria In W/Cup Qualifier’ — New York Times Investigation Claims Four years later he said he would stand against Infantino, but failed to garner enough support to be included in the ballot, having required the backing of five of Fifa’s 211 member federations.