UEFA will announce which FIFA Presidential candidate it supports in May, says Platini

By Andrew Warshaw at the Guildhall in London

April 20 – UEFA will decide at the beginning of May which candidate to back in the forthcoming FIFA election campaign, its President Michael Platini revealed today.

On the day that FIFA President Sepp Blatter outlined his manifesto, Platini insisted that European football’s governing body had not yet decided whether to support the present incumbent or his challenger, Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed Bin Hammam.

Platini is keen on the FIFA Presidency himself and as a result is expected to lobby European federations to support 75-year-old Blatter, who says he will not run beyond a fourth term.

In his election manifesto published today first on insideworldfootball, Blatter specifically called for “evolution” rather than “revolution” while Bin Hammam’s campaign contains far more dramatic proposals – including 17 more Executive Committee positions on a new 41-strong ‘FIFA board’.

Platini did not say whether he had read either manifesto but said UEFA would make public its decision a month before the June 1 vote in Zurich.

“I will make a statement at the beginning of May about the position of UEFA,” said Platini, speaking after the official hand-over of the Champions League trophy to London ahead of next month’s final at Wembley.

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