Argentina legend and long-time Dubai resident Diego Maradona believes that Prince Ali would run FIFA “with dignity and transparency” as he once again gave his backing to the presidential candidate.
Prince Ali is one of five men in the running to be FIFA president, alongside current AFC chief Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, South African Tokyo Sexwale, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino and former FIFA executive Jerome Champagne.
The Jordanian – like all of his fellow candidates – has pledged to clean up FIFA and Maradona, who was considering running himself at one stage, is confident Prince Ali can deliver on his promise.
“We want football to be clean, fun and entertaining. The scandals and bribes that happened in FIFA have ruined the image of football and took the heart of it,” Maradona told Dubai Sports.
“Our aim is to retain that passion and make people fall in love with football again.
“Numerous footballing figures have nominated me to run for the FIFA presidency but I refused because I know Prince Ali would be a much better candidate and I am sure he will manage this federation with dignity and transparency.
“We will not do an extreme makeover to FIFA as there are some positives that we can take from the previous governance, but we aim to change what is negative in the association and help improving its image.”
Maradona once suggested that he could sit alongside Prince Ali as vice president of FIFA but the former Barcelona and Napoli star does not appear ready to swap Dubai for Zurich any time soon.
He was recently spotted watching the cycling during the Dubai Tour cycling and insisted he never wants to leave the UAE.
“I am happy with my beautiful relationship with Dubai. There are huge sporting events that take place in this city and the Dubai Tour cycling is a perfect example of that,” Maradona said.
“I cannot hide the fact that I will stay in Dubai until the day I die as I have a lost a huge part of my family when my mother and father passed away.
“This city is the right place for me to live normally and have a steady lifestyle. I feel like I am a local citizen and I am proud of that.”
