January 28 – African countries, keen to maintain the level of developments funding they receive, will remain steadfastly behind Sepp Blatter in the forthcoming FIFA presidential election campaign.
Dutch football association (KNVB) President Michael van Praag has announced his intention to run against Blatter on May 29 following similar moves by former FIFA deputy secretary general Jerome Champagne and outgoing FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.
There is a strong possibility that not one of the six continents will vote as a bloc but Africa’s powerful 53-nation confederation could come closest as they rally round the present incumbent over the next four months.
“Africa is solidly behind Blatter. You will find he is very popular on the continent,” Kwesi Nyantakyi, president of the Ghana Football Association and a Confederation of African Football executive committee member, told Reuters.
“The continent is united behind him,” added former South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant.
Such is Blatter’s popularity in Africa that 15 years ago CAF president Issa Hayatou couldn’t even gain the majority support of his own confederation and was trounced at the vote in Seoul.
“Blatter has done a lot for the continent. It is he who has set up the financial assistance programmes and who through the Goal project has built infrastructure in all of the countries,” said Nyantakyi. “The Europeans don’t understand that. They say it is not his own money but FIFA’s but that’s not the point. He is the one who set up all the assistance programmes that have helped boost African football.”
Even in Europe, not everyone is happy with UEFA’s refusal to endorse one candidate against Blatter. Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, head of the European Club Association, says it doesn’t send out the right message.
“One has to look at that critically,” Rummenigge told Kicker. “As long as Blatter is a candidate he will win. His power base is too big, the large majority will vote for him.”
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