UEFA’s acting president, Angel Maria Villar, pulled out of the race to decide who will replace Michel Platini. Villar’s exit leaves Slovenian Aleksandar Ceferin and Dutchcounterpart Michael van Praag as the two candidates.
In 2015, Villar was warned and fined $25,000 for not cooperating with the investigation into the 2018 and 2022 bid process.Spain and Qatar were accused of illicit World Cup vote trading.
A FIFA investigation found no evidence of an agreement, though Brazilian Ricardo Teixeira later revealed thatsuch maneuvering on the executive committee tipped the vote toward Qatar in the race to host the 2022 World Cup.
Villar said his decision to discontinue his UEFA campaign was prompted bya request to continue his work as Spanish federation president.