MADRID: Angel Maria Villar has told Spanish referees that if he fails to win the UEFA presidency in September he will seek to continue at the head of the Spanish game.

Villar is a senior vice-president of world federation FIFA and has been effective interim head of the European federation since Frenchman Michel Platini was banned from football for financial misconduct.

The former Spain and Bilbao midfielder took the chair at UEFA Congress in Budapest in May and handed over the trophies at the finals of the European Championship, the Champions League and the Europa League.

Last week he confirmed he would stand for the UEFA presidency where his rivals are Dutch federation president Michael Van Praag and Slovenia’s Aleksander Ceferin.

In Santander, addressed Spain’s referees, Villar said: “I will stand for the UEFA presidency because I believe I have the support of most European federations. I am doing this out of a sense of responsibility to football but, if I do not win then I will focus of winning re-election at the Spanish federation with the intention of completing 30 years as president.”

However he had declared himself a candidate for UEFA “because I have enough to win support. I have no doubt that I can get and I think I’ll do it.”

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