By Andrew Warshaw
May 9- Fifa president Sepp Blatter has made up his mind to stand for a fifth term, according to Swiss reports.
Blatter used a meeting of specially invited Swiss business and sports executives in Zurich to finally confirm that he intends to carry on running world football’s governing body at the age of 78.
Blatter has always insisted that he would make his decision at or around the time of the Fifa Congress in Sao Paolo just before the World Cup.
But the most powerful man in world football appears to have pre-empted that by bringing his announcement forward by several weeks.
“I can state today i want to go on…I want to do it for another term,” Blatter is reported to have told his audience of around 150 at a private gathering hosted by the renowned Swiss publishing house Ringier AG where he was a special guest. “It is not over yet. My term is indeed over, but my mission is not finished yet!”
There was no immediate statement from Fifa but Blatter’s remarks were widely reported in the Swiss press.
Fifa sources were quick to play down his remarks, made in the mass-circulation newspaper Blick. The sources insisted Blatter was not yet an official candidate and that his comments had been built up out of proportion and added nothing to his previous assertions that he would in principle like to continue but would only run again if Congress asks him to do so.
But Ringier’s editor at large and chairman of Thursday’s panel, Hannes Britschgi, told InsideWorldFootball: “There is no doubt that the story is new. For the first time, Mr Blatter said clearly and in a loud voice that he wanted to go on for another term.”
So far only former FIFA administrator Jerome Champagne has officially declared his candidacy ahead of next May’s election.