UEFA yesterday named Theodore Theodoridis as interim general secretary to take over from new FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
But it insisted no decision on whether to replace Michel Platini as president would be taken until his appeals are finished.
Greek administrator Theodoridis moves up from deputy secretary general in place of Infantino who was elected as president of world body FIFA last week.
With world football stuck in corruption turmoil, Theodoridis cannot permanently take over the key post at the wealthiest continental confederation until Platini’s future is decided.
The French football legend is currently hit by a six-year ban over a suspect $2 million payment from former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter and so cannot take any UEFA decisions.
But if he wins an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Platini could return to decide who he wants as his right-hand man.
Reinhard Rauball, the head of Germany’s powerful football federation, this week called on Platini to resign now. Rauball said there is a power vacuum with Platini suspended and Infantino gone. “One has to distinguish between the personal interests of Platini and the capacity to function of UEFA, which is a venture worth billions,” he told Sport Bild magazine.
But the UEFA executive decided at yesterday’s meeting to keep faith with the Frenchman. “The UEFA executive Committee reconfirmed its decision of January that no UEFA presidential elections will be scheduled until a decision has been made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Michel Platini’s appeal,” said a statement.
Theodoridis told a press conference the committee decided “unanimously” to wait for the CAS verdict. Platini made a formal appeal to CAS, which is based in Lausanne, this week. The tribunal has said it is aiming to have a verdict before the European Championships start in France on June 10.
Platini, who has denied any wrongdoing over the payment, is desperate to keep his post at UEFA and be at the tournament in his home country.
UEFA officials said that if CAS rules against Platini an election could be held before Euro 2016 starts.
UEFA is to hold a congress in Budapest on May 3, but they said an extraordinary congress could also be held before June 10.
“After we have the (CAS) decision, we can shorten the time for the election from three months to nothing,” Alasdair Bell, UEFA’s legal director told reporters.
Theodoridis, 50, joined UEFA in 2008 and has been in charge of relations with the European national associations. If Platini is forced to leave UEFA, the next president could choose a different general secretary.
Theodoridis’ father Savvas is vice-president at Greek champions Olympiakos, whose owner Evangelos Marinakis has been banned from football activities by a magistrate investigating a match-fixing scandal between 2011 and 2013.
Marinakis, a 47-year-old shipowner, was recently cleared for lack of evidence in another match-fixing scandal involving the 2010-2011 season.
Theodore Theodoridis
