By Andrew Warshaw
June 4 – The race to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president is picking up pace after South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon announced he is considering making a comeback.
Chung’s Asian confederation say they have not yet made up their minds who to endorse but Chung told a news conference in Seoul that he “will carefully consider running for the FIFA presidency. I will decide after meeting international football leaders and listening to their opinions.”
Chung was a member of the FIFA executive committee for 11 years before being beaten to the Asian FIFA vice-presidency by Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein in elections in 2011.
Ironically Prince Ali has just lost the position himself and is still analyzing whether his chances would increase or decrease if he put his name forward for a second crack at the Fifa presidency having lost to Blatter last week.
Prince Ali has an awkward task weighing up how much support he would receive especially if Europe, which backed him first time round, puts up their own candidate and if Asia, once again, fails to support him. The Jordanian Football Federation president had been FIFA’s youngest vice-president and the youngest member of its executive committee but since the vote has relinquished both those positions.
Former Brazil star Zico, now a politician back home, says he is also considering standing for the leadership of the world game while former French winger David Ginola, who did not win a single nomination ahead of this year’s race, has already stated his desire to run again.
More credible possible contenders include UEFA president Michel Platini and previous candidates such as Jerome Champagne (France), Michael Van Praag (Holland) and Luis Figo (Portugal). Platini decided last year not to stand against Blatter but did not rule out an attempt in 2019 – when the next presidential vote would have taken place but for Blatter’s resignation.
There is also a possibility that Asian confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa from Bahrain or Kuwaiti powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah may stand.
Blatter plans to carry on his duties until a replacement is chosen at an extraordinary congress between December and March though this may change if the 79-year-old Swiss finds himself implicated in either of the ongoing twin investigations into corruption at FIFA.
Meanwhile, Russian World Cup chief Alexei Sorokin has told Sky in the UK that their bid team did nothing wrong during the 2018 process and that they had nothing to fear from either the FBI investigation or the separate inquiry being carried out by the Swiss authorities.
“We did everything the process wanted us to do. So we don’t know what else we can contribute,” said Sorokin. “We’ve repeatedly said the process was transparent. We’re not afraid or concerned with any investigations.”
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