Figo for FIFA President? Count me in...but it's not gonna happen.

One of these men will be the next president of FIFA...
the other one has great hair.

Yesterday, Portugese footballing legend and all-around Euro badass Luis Figo cast his hat into the ring as a candidate in the upcoming elections for president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, otherwise known as FIFA, the governing body of world football, and hoping to un-seat the incumbent, Sepp Blatter, who has held the top spot since 1998 and, in all likelihood, ain't going nowhere.

Blatter is 78 years old and a majorly divisive figure, as is the entire FIFA organiziation, and ask almost anyone who knows anything about world soccer (not me) and they'll tell you there's no way he's going to lose. He's too entrenched in the world soccer establishment and is too clever of a campaigner.

But it's nice to see a (comparatively) young man like Figo, 42, stepping up to the plate to possibly inject some youth and possibly some integrity into this embattled, reviled organization. Figo's one of the greatest players ever to play the game; 127 caps with his native Portugal, including two World Cups, and stints at both Real Madrid and Barcelona, having commanded one of the highest transfer fees ever at E37 million. It'd be great for soccer and great for FIFA if Blatter were ousted and the Figo Era began...

(I thought I was the pride of Portugal, but...whatever.)

...but it just seems unlikely. He entered the race pretty late, for one. For two, as noted above, almost
no one thinks Blatter is going anywhere. However, at 78, Blatter can't have too many years left ahead of him as FIFA President, in fact he's already almost resigned once. Who knows, maybe after getting a little recognition for his 2015 candidacy Figo will be back in 2019 with a successful bid? In spite of a pretty stiff field of competition, I think Figo's name, history, and connections in the football world make him a serious candidate, if not now, then very soon into the future.