Johansson Seeks Top Job

Signaling a potential new battle at the summit of global soccer, UEFA President Lennart Johansson says he wants to assume the top spot in the world governing body.

In an interview released with the German sports magazine Kicker, Johansson said Europe had a legitimate claim to the FIFA presidency when the incumbent, Joao Havelange, retires in 1998.

The 66-year-old Swedish national said one of his main priorities would be to introduce more transparency and democracy in the FIFA.

In Oxford, England, Diego Maradona used an unusual appearance at Oxford University to continue his crusade for a soccer players’ union.

In a smooth, prepared 20-minute speech in Spanish, Maradona recounted his boyhood growing up poor in Argentina, criticized soccer club owners and FIFA for getting rich at the players’ expense, and then took students’ questions that mostly dealt with his onthe-field life.