Soccer Great Diego Maradona Wants To Replace Sepp Blatter As FIFA President: Report

Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona is considering a bid to replace the embattled Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA, the global soccer organization. Victor Hugo Morales, a journalist from Uruguay, reported the development via Twitter, writing in Spanish that Maradona informed him of the plan.

The next FIFA presidential election is scheduled either late this year or early in 2016. Blatter resigned from the post after a corruption scandal flooded the organization in recent weeks.

The 54-year-old Maradona is one of Blatter's loudest and most high-profile critics, saying FIFA has been a “disgrace” during Blatter’s tenure. “In the last few decades, [soccer] has changed -- and not for the better. Once, it was a sport you could be proud of, a sport that united the world. But FIFA, its governing body, has turned into a playground for the corrupt,” Maradona wrote in a column in May. "Most [soccer] fans can predict what I am about to say next: Under Sepp Blatter, FIFA has become a disgrace and a painful embarrassment to those of us who care about [soccer] deeply."

Maradona played for the Argentine national team from 1977 to 1994, with 91 international caps, and was considered one of the sport's greatest players. He led his country to a World Cup title in 1986 in Mexico.