UEFA President Michel Platini addresses a news conference after a meeting in Zurich on Thursday.
Reuters/Zurich
A majority of UEFA's member associations will vote for Jordan's Prince Ali bin Al Hussein to succeed Sepp Blatter as the next FIFA president, UEFA President Michel Platini said on Thursday.
"A large majority of the European associations will all vote for Prince Ali," Platini told a news conference in Zurich, a day after several senior FIFA officials were arrested on US corruption charges.
Platini said that during Thursday morning's emergency meeting at FIFA, he told Blatter to step down in light of the scandal that has engulfed the world soccer body.
"I said, I'm asking you to leave, FIFA's image is terrible. He said that he couldn't leave all of a sudden."
Platini added: "I'm saying this with sadness and tears in my eyes, but there have been too many scandals, FIFA doesn't deserve to be treated that way.
Australia to vote against Blatter
The first cracks in Asia's support for embattled FIFA boss Blatter emerged on Thursday when Australia's federation announced it would be voting for a new president at Friday's election.
The Football Federation of Australia (FFA) had previously been a staunch ally of Blatter, voting for him at every election since he first assumed power in 1998.
But the FFA Chairman Frank Lowy AC released a statement after arriving in Switzerland, announcing Australia would switch its support to Prince Ali.
"FFA believes that profound change within FIFA is needed as soon as possible to address issues of governance and transparency," the statement read. "This belief will be reflected when Australia casts its vote in the presidential election, should it proceed on Friday in Zurich."
Australia's announcement came just hours after the Asian Football Confederation released a statement reaffirming its support for Blatter.
Australia is one of 47 countries in the AFC. The Socceroos won the Asian Cup for the first time earlier this year, but the FFA has been increasingly critical of Blatter's leadership of FIFA after losing out to Qatar in the vote to host the 2022 World Cup bid.
