Football
9y

Johan Cruyff backs Michael van Praag in FIFA vote

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Dutch football great Johan Cruyff has thrown his support behind the bid by his longtime friend Michael van Praag to unseat Sepp Blatter as FIFA president.

Cruyff says Van Praag, who is head of the Dutch football association and a member of UEFA's executive committee, is "somebody you can count on."

In his column on Monday in top-selling Dutch daily De Telegraaf, Cruyff said he is watching the FIFA presidential campaign "from the sidelines," but "If Van Praag asks for my support, he'll get it."

Cruyff and Van Praag both have long-standing links to Amsterdam club Ajax, where Cruyff burst onto the international stage as a precocious teenage talent and where Van Praag is a former chairman.

Van Praag is one of three candidates challenging Blatter in the May 29 vote.

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