Russian FA presidency candidate Igor Lebedev considers his third place at the elections a victory.

After the first round of elections Lebedev received just nine votes, trailing eventual winner Nikolai Tolstykh and runnerup Sergei Pryadkin, who got 139 and 118 votes respectively.

“I think my result is a sort of victory because it is a good result to take the third place when making a speech at the Russian Football Union conference for the first time,” said Lebedev, a member of the right-wing and misnamed Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.

The post became vacant after the former head Sergei Fursenko resigned following the failure of Russia national team at Euro 2012 in June.

Lebedev would have scrapped limits on foreign players in the Russian game had he been elected.