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Sepp Blatter confirms he will stand for fifth term as Fifa president Sepp Blatter confirms he will stand for fifth term as Fifa president
(about 1 hour later)
Sepp Blatter has confirmed he will stand for a fifth term as Fifa president next year. Sepp Blatter has confirmed he will stand for a fifth term as Fifa president and dismissed the prospect of the 2018 or 2022 World Cup being disrupted by boycotts.
Blatter has been widely expected to stand again despite saying in 2011 this would be his last term. It follows the Uefa president Michel Platini announcing last month that he would not stand for the Fifa post. The 78-year-old’s tenure has been beset by controversy but, speaking via video link at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester, said “my mission is not finished” as the head of world football’s governing body.
Blatter said he would officially inform the Fifa executive committee of his plan at the next meeting, on 25 and 26 September. Blatter called for tougher sanctions against racism in his first interview since the World Cup in Brazil, admitted the wildly-criticised decision to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar represented “a challenge” but insisted a European-led boycott of the next World Cup in Russia would be futile. He also denied players would refuse to play in Qatar should the tournament clash with the European football calendar.
The 78-year-old said in a video interview played at the Soccerex conference in Manchester: “I will inform the executive committee. It’s a question of respect also to say then to the football family: ‘Yes I will be ready. I will be a candidate.’” Blatter’s decision to stand again for the Fifa presidency is no surprise and his re-election appears a formality after Michel Platini, Uefa’s chief executive, opted not to run. “A mission is never finished and my mission is not finished,” stated Blatter. “And I have told the Fifa Congress, I have told the congresses of the confederations. At the last congress in São Paulo (he received) not only the impression but the support of the majority, a huge majority of national associations asking, ‘please go on, be our president also in future’.
Blatter said the backing of the majority of the national associations at the Fifa congress in São Paulo in June had convinced him to keep going. “I will inform the executive committee. It’s a question of respect also to say to the football family, ‘Yes I will be ready. I will be a candidate’.”
He added: “You see a mission is never finished. And my mission is not finished. The Fifa president said Platini’s decision not to challenge for the position later this month came as no surprise, but he did expect a contest with another Uefa candidate. He added: “I was not surprised because in private conversations I have had with Michel Platini before, during and after the World Cup he confirmed he would not be a candidate but there will be someone who will be contesting you. He is a reliable man when he is not only speaking colleague-to-colleague but as friend-to-friend even if we are not always at the same idea in football.”
“Then I got through the last congress in São Paulo not only the impression but the support of the majority, a huge majority of national associations asking: ‘Please go on, be our president also in future.’ ” Blatter had been due to visit Manchester only for a meeting on the dates for the Qatar World Cup at Fifa’s headquarters in Nyon to change his plans.
The election will take place at the Fifa congress next May. The only other declared candidate is the former Fifa deputy secretary general Jerome Champagne, although the candidacy deadline is not until January. The Fifa president insisted no decision has been taken on when to play in the searing heat of Qatar and denied players would boycott the tournament under pressure from leading clubs. “Players want to go to the World Cup and they would not deliberately not go to the highlight of their career,” he said. “Everybody wants to go the World Cup. A boycott of the players? No, I don’t believe that.”
Before the World Cup started in Brazil in June, five of Fifa’s six confederations – the exception being Uefa – gave Blatter their support to continue as president and it is almost inconceivable that he will not be re-elected when voting takes place at the Fifa congress in Zurich next June. He also claimed there would be nothing gained by the proposed boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia for political reasons. Blatter added: “The decisions have been taken and we trust in the strengths of football that the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be played. There are already some voices coming out about 2018 talking about a boycott – a boycott in sport never has had any benefit. Let us wait and see the geo-political situation and Fifa shall not intervene with politics. But for the time being we are working with Russia.”
At the Uefa congress in Paris in March 2013, Blatter told delegates he would definitely stand down in 2015. Blatter claimed Fifa must await Michael Garcia’s report into possible corruption surrounding the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups before commenting further on their controversial choices as hosts. “We are monitoring that (investigation) but not interfering,” he said. “For the time being we are strong to maintain the organisation of the World Cup in Russia and in Qatar in 2022. Concerning Qatar we still await the report of Fifa’s ethics committee who have made an in depth investigation and we are awaiting the results of this this month or next month.”
Blatter told them: “You know very well that I am a candidate for the next four years as Fifa president but these will be the last four years for which I stand as a candidate.” Greg Dyke, the Football Association chairman, described Blatter’s stance on alleged corruption as unacceptable at the recent World Cup and said there was no point in England bidding to host a competition while the 78-year-old remained at the helm of Fifa. Blatter responded: “I know Greg Dyke. He’s a man of communication. He’s a man who is really in all the media. He knows it works. And if he has an outburst once, then so what? I still respect him because I think he’s a good guy.
Platini and a number of Uefa countries including England and Scotland have publicly stated they will not support Blatter standing for a fifth term in office. “Don’t forget that, in football, you learn to win but also to lose. So, therefore, I appeal to all those to go back to the essence of football, and then you learn to lose. I have lost a lot of times but, if you lose, then you stay there and you try to be better. And then, stay fair, that’s all.”
Blatter also used the convention to call for tougher sanctions against teams or supporters found guilty of racism. He explained: “At the 2013 (Fifa) Congress in Mauritius there was a unanimous resolution taken to go against racism and discrimination. The catalogue of sanctions mentions the deduction of points, or elimination of a team when it is in a cup competition, or even the relegation of a team from a league. If in future one of the disciplinary committees of a league or a federation or a confederation or even Fifa would have the courage to use such a sanction to deduct two points or three points then it would stop. I’m sure it would stop because with pecuniary sanctions or to close part of the space for spectators or have an empty stadium, this is not a solution.”