Ronaldo: Brazil legend pulls out of race to be president of country’s football federation

Brazil legend Ronaldo has pulled out of the the race to be president of the country’s football association after finding “closed doors” to his candidacy .The 48-year-old, who was capped 98 times, was planning to challenge Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues.Rodrigues’ term runs until March 2026 and the presidential elections must take place in the next 12 months.Ronaldo had pledged to “recover the prestige” of the national team when he announced his original intention to stand.Brazil, record five-time winners of the World Cup, last won the competition in 2002 and reached the semi-finals in 2014.However, the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid striker has decided to withdraw because most of Brazil’s regional federations “support the incumbent president”.”On my first contact with the 27 regional federations, I found 23 closed doors,” Ronaldo said in a statement published on his social media channels.”The federations refused to receive me in their homes, on the grounds of their satisfaction with the current administration and support for [Rodrigues’] re-election.”Brazil’s 27 regional federations are allocated three votes each, while the 20 top-flight clubs in Brazil’s Serie A are given two votes each and the 20 second-tier Serie B sides, one vote each.Ronaldo said he “respected” the right of federation leaders to maintain their support for Rodrigues, but was disappointed there was “no openness to dialogue”.”The statute gives the federations the strongest vote, so it’s clear that there’s no way I can run,” he added.”I was unable to present my project, put forward my ideas and listen to them as I would have liked.”Rodrigues is now expected to be the sole candidate in next year’s election.Ronaldo, a World Cup winner in 1994 and 2002, is second on the competition’s all-time top scorer list behind Germany’s Miroslav Klose with 15 goals in 19 appearances.His international career spanned 17 years and included two Copa America titles and an Olympic bronze medal.Brazil have won the Copa America once since Ronaldo’s international retirement in 2011 and were knocked out of the 2022 World Cup by Croatia in the quarter-finals.