Sports
Michael van Praag to contest for FIFA presidency election
Amsterdam: Michael van Praag who is the president of the Dutch Football Association (FA) today stated that he would like to contest against Joseph “Sepp” Blatter for the FIFA presidency.
Van Praag, in a statement, has said he has the necessary nominations from five football associations for contesting the election.
“It is high time that the organisation comes back into the real world,” he was quoted as saying by bbc.com Tuesday.
Blatter, Van Praag, Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Frenchman Jerome Champagne and former footballer David Ginola have declared their candidacy for the elections.
Their candidacy nominations are set to be confirmed after Thursday’s deadline.
The aspirants have to pass an anti-corruption test before they can be confirmed as candidates.
Blatter, 78, had earlier accused European football governing body UEFA of lacking the “courage” to challenge his leadership. Blatter has been at the helm of FIFA since 1998 and is seeking a fifth five-year term in office.
“It is well known that I am very worried about FIFA. I had hoped that a credible opponent to Blatter would emerge, but that’s simply not happened,” Van Praag said.
“In that case, you cannot just talk but you must also act decisively and take responsibility so, therefore, I am announcing my candidacy,” he added.
The vote is set to take place in May.
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.
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