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As expected, Joseph Blatter yesterday formally announced that he will run for a fifth term as president of the ruling football body FIFA next year. The 78-year-old Swiss Blatter has presided over FIFA since 1998. The next election is at the 2015 FIFA Congress, for a term until 2019. |
“I will accept the demands of different associations and federations to serve FIFA for a fifth mandate,” Blatter told a news conference following a meeting of the executive committee.
Blatter has massive support from five of the six FIFA confederations, but not from Europe which is upset that he changed his mind after pledging in 2011 to step down after his current term.
But UEFA president Michel Platini has said he will not run for presidency next year against Blatter.
The only other candidate is former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne of France who appears to have no chance against Blatter.
Blatter and FIFA have been under heavy fire in recent years over the controversial election of Russia and Qatar as the next World Cup hosts, and over corruption allegations directed at the ruling body.
Blatter, who has denied any involvement in corruption and was personally cleared by the FIFA ethics committee, put himself atop a reform process which is to be completed at next year’s congress.
“My mission is not finished yet,” he said after telling the June congress ahead of the Brazil World Cup that he wants to run for the top job again.
In the news conference, Blatter also dismissed any suggestions to publish the report of prosecutor Michael Garcia on possible corruption around the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.
Blatter said that no executive asked for its publication yesterday after Garcia himself suggested parts of his report should be published. Some FIFA executives had earlier supported Garcia but Blatter said none of them was on the committee when the World Cups were awarded in 2010.
The final verdict is to come next year from FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert, who has suggested that like in every civil and criminal court case at least the charges should be made public.
Blatter spoke of a “non problem” around the giving of expensive watches to top football officials including FIFA executives by Brazil’s ruling body CBF.
FIFA officials must hand back the watches by October 24 because accepting gifts is forbidden in the ethics code.
FIFA also said yesterday that it will outlaw third-party ownership of players after a transitional period of up to four years.