By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – Away from UEFA territory where he could have been accused of opportunism, Michel Platini has given his first thoughts on running for FIFA president.
Platini has yet to publish a manifesto and has said little about his ambitions since deciding to bid to succeed Sepp Blatter on February 26 but now says he wants to focus more on football and less on politics if he is elected. Easier said than done.
Ahead of FIFA’s two-day executive committee meeting in Zurich, the UEFA president said: “We have to care about the game, not politics. With me, there won’t be politics. With me, it’s about football, not politics.”
It has long been assumed that Platini will take more of an executive role if he steps up from UEFA rather than travel the world and take a hands-on role like Blatter. That seems to be the way he wants to operate judging from his remarks.
“A good FIFA is like a good referee, nobody speaks about it,” Platini was quoted as saying. “There are a lot of good people in the executive committee. It’s just some that have been corrupt. If you do something wrong, you will be taken care of.”
One of Platini’s challenges is to convince his critics that he voted for Qatar to stage the 2022 World Cup openly and honestly. For the first time, he has actually conceded he might have opted for the United States instead of going for Qatar after attending a lunch for Qatari officials hosted by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy – a political decision if there ever was one.
Admitting he “might have told” the Americans he would support them, Platini told The Associated Press: “Sarkozy never asked me to vote for Qatar, but I knew what would be good.”
Platini’s assurance that he would refrain from politics will be viewed with some scepticism by his opponents for the FIFA presidency, not least his former ally Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan who lost to Blatter in May but is running a second time.
Prince Ali believes the Frenchman, with whom he has fallen out big-time , is inextricably linked with the past and has publicly criticised him for allegedly making deals with confederation heads.
Certainly the current summit of FIFA’s top brass will have given Platini a timely chance to promote his credentials, especially given that none of his rivals for the presidency are exco members.
Indeed, UEFA number two Gianni Infantino was spotted working the room Thursday evening at the Baur au Lac hotel in downtown Zurich where exco members traditionally stay – the same hotel where, of course, seven senior officials were snared back in May when the US investigation into widespread corruption erupted.
With US attorney general Loretta Lynch warning last week that more arrests can be expected, it must have been an eerie, uncomfortable place to stay for anyone with something to hide.
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