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Michel Platini named the main contender for the post of FIFA head
Michel Platini, head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), will run for president of the International Football Federation (FIFA).
This is reported by the Spanish sports publication As, citing informed sources.
According to As, Platini has already won the support of four of the six football confederations that make up FIFA, and thus is the main contender for the presidency of the International Football Federation.
UEFA, according to the publication, instead of Platini can be headed by the president of the German Football Union, Wolfgang Niersbach.
Officially, Michel Platini has not yet announced his readiness to fight for the presidency of FIFA. The date for the early election of the head of the International Football Federation will be set at a meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee on July 20.
Platini's candidacy for the presidency of FIFA is supported by UEFA, as well as the football confederations of South America, North and Central America and Oceania (Spanish).
- Michel Platini has been president of UEFA since January 2007.
- Joseph Blatter has been the President of FIFA since 1998. In May 2015, he was re-elected for another term, but amid a corruption scandal in FIFA, he announced an early resignation.
- The election of a new head of FIFA is expected to take place in December 2015-January 2016. Until the election, Blatter will continue to serve as head of the International Football Federation.
- Platini has repeatedly criticized Blatter. In particular, he said that if Blatter changes his mind about resigning, UEFA may boycott FIFA events, including the World Cup.