A candidate for the vacant post of Russian FA president has told R-Sport that only those who don’t respect football laws fear his election to the post.
Former Dynamo Moscow player and current Russian Olympic Committee executive director Nikolai Tolstykh was nominated for the post last month.
The Russian Football Union is holding elections by secret ballot on Monday to decide on a new president after Sergei Fursenko resigned in the wake of Russia's Euro 2012 group stage exit.
Tostykh is considered a frontrunner along with Sergei Pryadkin, the head of the Russian Premier League.
“My arrival is likely to upset those who do not live according to the approved rules and regulations of football, who neglect rules of conduct adopted in the football community,” Tostykh said.
“Those who work within the existing rules and engaged in the development of the Russian football never feared, and should not fear the arrival of head with views like mine.”
His interview with R-Sport came hours after a host of top officials who would possibly have backed Pryadkin stepped down from the union's executive committee.
The CEO of Gazprom and owner of Zenit St. Petersburg Alexei Miller, President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov, former Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, and Sergei Stepashin, the head of Russia's Audit Chamber, all stepped down.
Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, a powerful proponent of an FA overhaul, publically supported Tolstykh, while Pryadkin was said to have the backing of the 16 Russian Premier League clubs.
The other candidates are Soviet international Evgeny Lovchev, football officials Alisher Aminov, Valery Beletsky, Vladimir Tumaev and a politician for the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Igor Lebedev.
