Ronaldo Announces Plan To Run For Brazil's FA President
Football great Ronaldo Nazario has announced that he will run for Brazil's FA presidency next year.
Current president of the Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) Ednaldo Rodrigues' tenure runs out in March 2026 but elections are supposed to be held 12 months prior.
Ronaldo is one of the greatest strikers ever to play the game, winning two FIFA World Cups and winning 98 caps for Brazil.
Brazil have not won the FIFA World Cup since 2002 when Ronaldo scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Germany in the final.
They have only made the semi-finals of that competition once since their last triumph.
"For many decades, Brazilian football has always been the escape route for the Brazilian people when they faced daily problems," Ronaldo told Globo Esporte.
"This was the fuel of the Brazilian people and today we see a total lack of interest from the population in the national team.
"Among hundreds of things that motivate me to become a candidate for president of the CBF is to recover this prestige and respect that the national team has always had and that no-one else has today."
"We have the best players, we have [Vinicius Jr], Neymar, Rodrygo, Estevao, Endrick... we have a lot of talent, how can we not play well?" added the 48-year-old.
"We have to change this dynamic. Brazil has to be a protagonist in the World Cup, in the Copa America, it can't miss out on the Olympics. It's unacceptable for the talent we have."