Blatter not in frame as FIFA sets presidential election for Feb 26
Print Edition
FIFA will hold a presidential election on February 26, giving Sepp Blatter seven more months in power before leaving the scandal-tainted governing body.
The date was chosen by FIFA’s executive committee in Zurich yesterday, after Blatter announced plans to resign four days following his re-election in May amid American and Swiss criminal investigations into corruption.
The 79-year-old Blatter, who first joined FIFA 40 years ago, has held onto the most world powerful job in world soccer since 1998.
FIFA’s 209 members, who elected Blatter to a fifth term in May, will return to Zurich next year to select a new president almost nine months after Blatter’s resignation statement. Potential contenders include UEFA President Michel Platini, a favorite, and Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, who lost to Blatter in May.
Former Brazil great Zico and Liberia football federation president Musa Bility have said they will seek the five nominations required by the October 26 deadline.
FIFA announced the election date shortly before a news conference by Blatter. The FIFA executive committee meeting also discussed ways of reforming the organization to regain the trust of fans and sponsors, including presidential term limits.
Blatter told media: “I will not be a candidate for the election in 2016.”
Asked to dispel any doubt that he would go back on his promises to leave, Blatter folded his arms and chuckled.
He said: “On the 26th of February FIFA will have a new president. I cannot be the new president because I am the old president.”
Prince Ali yesterday joined World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola and former FIFA adviser Transparency International in calling for Blatter to be excluded from the process of shaping the organization’s future after a litany of scandals on his watch.
Prince Ali , a FIFA vice president for four years until May, said that Blatter “cannot be permitted to plan his succession and manage this election process”.
“An interim independent leadership must be appointed to administer the process of the elections, in addition to the reforms that are being discussed prior to the elections,” he added.
Reformers want FIFA to appoint a respected figure from outside the sport to oversee the next election and reforms.
Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general from Ghana, has been mentioned for the role.
“The rumors linking Mr Annan to the FIFA job are just that: rumors,” Annan’s office said, stressing that he is currently “fully committed” to other roles.
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