|
 Morales said Maradona had told him of his intention when he called
the former coach of the Argentina national team to check on the
condition of his sick father on Sunday.
"He told me he was going to run for president of FIFA and authorized
me to inform," Morales posted in Spanish on his twitter feed.
"'I am a candidate' were the two words Diego Maradona used to answer
me when I consulted him about the nomination for the presidency of
FIFA," he added in another tweet.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month suggested
Maradona become the next FIFA president.
Maradona, 54, has long been a trenchant critic of Blatter and last
month said he was "enjoying" the corruption scandal that led the
Swiss to announce he would stand down at an extraordinary congress
of soccer's world governing body.
Like Brazilian Zico, another great former player who has announced
his candidacy, Maradona might struggle to get the support of
federations from five countries, as required under FIFA statutes.
Liberia Football Association Chairman Musa Bility is the other
candidate announced so far for a ballot likely to take place later
this year or in early 2016.
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Morales is famous around Latin America for his passionate commentary
of Maradona's wonder goal against England at the 1986 World Cup.
Maradona led Argentina to their second World Cup triumph in that
tournament.
The pair hosted a TV show together for Venezuelan station Telesur
during last year's World Cup in Brazil.
(Writing by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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