By Andrew Warshaw
July 28 – As anticipated, Michel Platini has confirmed he will run for FIFA president saying the corruption-battered organisation needs to “turn over a new leaf”.
The 60-year-old UEFA chief is the first candidate to announce he is bidding to take over from Sepp Blatter at elections on February 26 that will bring to an end Blatter’s often turbulent reign that will have lasted almost 18 years.
Following Saturday’s 2018 World Cup draw in St. Petersburg when he met a number of key FIFA figures, Platini is believed to have held further discussions with influential powerbrokers on the fringes of the Gold Cup in Philadelphia before making up his mind that he will stand for the top job.
In a letter sent to the presidents and general secretaries of FIFA’s 209 members, he said it was “a very personal, carefully considered decision, one in which I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future.”
“There are times in life when you have to take your destiny into your own hands. I am at one of those decisive moments, at a juncture in my life and in events that are shaping the future of FIFA.”
Platini, who has been President of UEFA since 2007 and a FIFA executive committee member since 2002, added: “During this last half-century or so, FIFA has only had two presidents. This extreme stability is something of a paradox in a world that has experienced radical upheavals and in a sport that has undergone considerable economic change. However, recent events force the supreme governing body of world football to turn over a new leaf and rethink its governance.”
Platini, who is understood to have the support of four of FIFA’s six confederations, said that in recent months, he had defended his ideas and proposals “to give FIFA back the dignity and the position it deserves” after several scandal-tainted years.
He said he was standing as a candidate “with enthusiasm and conviction, but also with the humility of someone who knows that he cannot succeed on his own.”
“I am counting on your support and our common love of football so that, together, we can give the tens of millions of football fans the FIFA that they want: a FIFA that is exemplary, united and shows solidarity, a FIFA that is respected, liked and of the people.”
Platini’s letter, published on UEFA’s website, made no mention of whether he intends to remain in charge of UEFA until he himself is replaced. As reported by Insideworldfootball, it is anticipated that unless he resigns his UEFA post, he may carry out both jobs for a brief period of time until elections take place to put a new UEFA president in place, probably just before or just after the Euro 2016 finals.
If and when he takes over at FIFA, his first official engagement would most likely be chairing the annual meeting of the law-making International FA Board on March 4-6. It was the IFAB that approved the use of goalline technology which, for all Platini’s modernist ideas, he has long opposed and has only reluctantly embraced.
He has also come in for criticism (some might say unfairly) for voting for Qatar to stage the 2022 World Cup which is being switched to winter in the middle of the European season as a result of the searing Gulf heat.
One question now is how many opponents Platini will face in the race to take over from Blatter. The deadline for nominations is October 26 and speculation is growing that both former Brazilian great Zico and one-time FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon will also run. Liberian FA federation president Musa Bility has announced he, too, wants a crack at the job.
Only one FIFA president in 111 years has come from outside Europe, Brazil’s Joao Havelange who was in charge from 1974 until 1998. Zico wants the Brazilian FA to formally endorse his candidacy while Chung says he will most likely declare next month.
“I plan to officially announce my candidacy in mid-August, and if possible, in Europe,” said Chung although since then, intriguingly, he has held talks with Platini about strategy.
If things had been different, ironically, Platini would have had to wait several more years to realise his ambitions. Just before the last FIFA election in May, he urged Blatter to step down there and then as a result of the ongoing corruption crisis and give Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, the only challenger, a free run to take over.
As we all know, Blatter politely declined, went on to beat Prince Ali but four days later gave in to the pressure and announced he was stepping down though not before a formal election to choose his successor.
Now that Platini, who said he wasn’t interested in the top job lost time and wanted to continue his love affair with UEFA, has decided he has to grab his opportunity, the rumour mill will start as who takes over the reins at UEFA.
Likely contenders could include UEFA’s senior vice-president Angel Villar Llona, though that would be highly unlikely given the Spaniard’s old school, anti-reformist views. A more realistic candidate would be Michael Van Praag, who initially stood for FIFA president in May before withdrawing and leaving the field to an ultimately vanquished Prince Ali.
Potentially, the front-runner could be Wolfgang Niersbach, the German FA boss whose rapid rise up the football politics ladder could be set for another decisive step.
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