By Andrew Warshaw
February 3 – Former UEFA boss Lennart Johansson (pictured left) has called for FIFA President Sepp Blatter (right) to step down and hand over the reins now rather than at the end of his four-year term in 2015.
Johansson lost a bitter 1998 FIFA Presidential election to Blatter, who has stayed in power ever since and was unopposed in securing a fourth and final term of office last year.
Johansson, however, believes Blatter has been far too autocratic.
“It cannot be that only one man should be dictating and taking all the decisions about world football,” Johansson said.
“There is not much more to do than to get rid of the man in question.”
Despite being invited to many of FIFA’s celebratory occasions as one of football’s most respected older statesmen, Johansson has maintained a frosty relationship with Blatter.
Last month he called for an independent investigation into allegations that Blatter promised to sell World Cup television rights in return for election backing.
The veteran Swede believes Michel Platini, who succeeded him as President of UEFA in 2007, would be the ideal replacement to take over from Blatter.
“He is to me closer to what I was looking for,” Johansson told BBC World Service.
“He has tried to be fair, he’s open-minded, he allows discussions and he obeys decisions made by the majority”.
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