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Villar's manifesto for his bid was published on the Spanish
Football Federation (RFEF) website on Tuesday and was based on
three pillars.
The first was "the evolution and protection of our organisation
towards the best practices of good governance, transparency and
democratic participation."
The others were the development and promotion of football around
Europe "guaranteeing equal opportunities for everyone", and the
"protection of the game and the players."
Dutchman Michael van Praag and Slovenian Aleksandar Ceferin are
also contesting the election in Athens on Sept. 14. Like Villar,
they are presidents of their countries' football federations.
Villar, who has been RFEF president since 1988, is a former
Athletic Bilbao and Spain midfirlder who has sat on the
executive committee of global soccer body FIFA since 1998 and on
its UEFA equivalent since 1992.
Villar was fined 25,000 Swiss francs ($26,000) last year by
FIFA's Ethics Committee for failing to co-operate with an
investigation into the contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World
Cups.
He presided over the most successful era in the history of the
Spanish national team, who won successive European Championships
in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in 2010.
The UEFA election has been called to find a replacement for
Frenchman Michel Platini, who has been banned for four years for
ethics violations.
Platini was elected in 2015 and the winner will complete his
mandate which runs until 2019.
($1 = 0.9639 Swiss francs) (Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne,
editing by Ed Osmond)
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