LISBON, Portugal (AP) – Luis Figo dropped out of the FIFA presidential election on Thursday, calling soccer’s governing body a dictatorship under Sepp Blatter.
The Portugal great and former FIFA world player of the year said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that he refuses to go along with an election process that is designed “for the delivery of absolute power to one man” – indicating Blatter, the current FIFA president.
Figo’s announcement came hours after another candidate, Dutch soccer federation president Michael van Praag, also withdrew from the May 29 election. That leaves only Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan in the race against Blatter.
Figo said during campaigning he encountered hypocrisy among federation presidents around the world, and that people who wanted to speak out had been silenced. He gave no names.
He said FIFA was “living under a dictatorship” with Blatter, whose re-election is widely expected.