He claims to have visited an alien spaceship - but would eccentric Russian be a worse Fifa president than Sepp Blatter?
President of Chess Federation says he is considering putting his name forward
An eccentric Russian politician who is the president of the World Chess Federation and claims to have visited an alien spaceship is thinking about running for Fifa president.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said he was considering a bid to replace Sepp Blatter after Russian Chess Federation president Andrei Filatov encouraged him to go for the job.
“The suggestion has been made but I haven’t made a decision yet on whether I’ll stand,” the 53-year-old Ilyumzhinov said in comments reported by Russia’s R-Sport news agency. “For myself, I haven’t decided anything about this issue yet.”
Ilyumzhinov, who has been president of chess body FIDE since 1995, has Russian government connections and also links to soccer after running a now-defunct Russian club.
He also has a reputation for eccentricity and claimed to have visited an alien spaceship during his time as leader of the Russian region of Kalmykia from 1993-2010, during which time opponents accused him of corruption and human rights abuses.