FILE PHOTO: Dec 5, 2024; Miami, FL, USA; Brazilian former soccer player Ronaldo Nazario reacts next to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy during the Club Word Cup draw at Telemundo Studios. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images/File Photo
(Reuters) - Former Brazil striker Ronaldo will run for the presidency of the country's football confederation (CBF), the 48-year-old said on Monday.
Ronaldo, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 and 2002, will run as a candidate in the CBF elections to replace current president Ednaldo Rodrigues in 2026.
"Among hundreds of things that motivate me to become a candidate for president of the CBF, I want to recover this prestige and respect that the Selecao (Brazil's national team) always had and today nobody else has," he told Globo Esporte.
The former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid forward currently also said he expects to sell his stake in Spanish top-flight side Real Valladolid.
"We're negotiating a possible sale very soon and we should close the deal. It won't be an obstacle to my candidacy," he added.
Ronaldo previously owned a 90% stake in Brazilian team Cruzeiro, which he sold earlier this year.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Peter Rutherford)
