By Andrew Warshaw
April 17 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter believes he has the support of seven Central American federations for his re-election campaign.
Blatter has just completed a tour of Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras and Belize.
He insisted his week-long visit to the region had no connection with lobbying but were simply general duties.
Yet he could not resist taking a veiled jibe at his challenger on June 1, Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed Bin Hammam.
“It’s the FIFA Congress that’s going to vote and the national federations should say where we’re going,” said Blatter.
“Are we going together down a road that we know, or are we going down a road in which the pyramid might crumble?”
Blatter’s bid to beat Bin Hammam for the top job in world football received a timely boost when Costa Rica showed their hand by saying they would definitely vote for the 75-year-old Swiss.
Eduardo Li, President of the Costa Rica football association, said: “On June 1, the Costa Rican soccer federation will give its support to Blatter.
“That is the decision reached by the Executive Committee and we believe in his work.”
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