Inside World Football
FIFA news
By Andrew Warshaw
FIFA President Sepp Blatter
January 29 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has confirmed that he has submitted his bid to run for re-election a few hours before the deadline for nominations – but has not named the federations backing him.
There was little doubt that the 78-year-old present incumbent would stand again – his candidacy was a mere formality – but Blatter may have wanted to wait and check who else was in the field before posting a message on his Twitter account to say ”I’ve made my submission.”
“Today is a key date in the electoral calendar. Now the electoral committee follow a process.”
That panel will undertake a comprehensive vetting procedure before formally publishing the names of the candidates, possibly as late as mid-February.
Last weekend Blatter laid down a challenge to his critics within UEFA to put up a candidate and within two days Dutch FA boss Michael van Praag and Portuguese legend Luis Figo had thrown their names into the race.
The only contender to so far identify his five letters of support in order to make it on to the ballot paper is van Praag, citing Belgium, Faeroe Islands, Romania, Scotland and Sweden.
Figo and FIFA Vice President Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan also claim to have the required backing though Jerome Champagne has yet to announce whether he is still going ahead with his bid for the presidency of an organisation he served for over a decade in a variety of roles.
Blatter, who has been in charge of football’s world governing body since 1998, is running for a fifth mandate and is overwhelming favourite to win the election in Zurich on May 29.
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