FIFA has announced that it will hold an extraordinary congress to elect a new president on February 26, 2016 and Sepp Blatter has confirmed that he will not be a candidate.
Having been re-elected as president on May 29, Blatter announced four days later that he was going to stand down after a pair of investigations were announced into corruption within world football’s ruling body.
However, Blatter’s decision not to resign immediately has led to speculation that he may yet put himself up for election once again next year.
But, when questioned at a press conference in Zurich yesterday, he said: “On February 26, FIFA will have a new president.
“I will not be a candidate for the election in 2016 and there will be election for a new president. I cannot be the new president because I am the old president.
“On February 26 FIFA will have a new president and I think I will go back to my work as a journalist. This time I will go to radio, as this is the most popular item in information.”
Blatter also announced that FIFA is to set up an 11-man taskforce which will propose reforms aimed at cleaning up the organisation, following a series of damaging scandals.
The planned reforms include “centralised integrity checks for Executive Committee members, the introduction of term limits and higher standards of governance at all levels of football structures.”
The task force will present its conclusions to the executive committee in September, and this in turn can suggest reforms to FIFA’s Congress, which has the power to alter the federation’s statutes.
European Football (UEFA) president Michel Platini has emerged as the favourite after being urged to run by four of the six FIFA confederations, while former Brazil great Zico and Liberia Football Federation president Musa Bility have confirmed that they will seek the five nominations required.
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