UEFA president Michel Platini has revealed that he no longer supports FIFA Chief Sepp Blatter.
The president of the football governing body has come under immense pressure from top football officials to step down from his post after Blatter was accused of favoring Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. However, Blatter has rejected those claims suggesting the corruption allegations are racist.
Blatter replaced Brazilian João Havelange as the president of FIFA in 1998 and since then is holding the top position. Platini has now urged there has to be a new breath of fresh air and Blatter needs to step down from his position.
“I am supporting him no longer, it’s finished. He knows it, I told him. I think FIFA needs a new breath of fresh air,” Platini said.
After being re-elected in 2011, the Swiss football administrator admitted that he would not stand for the upcoming election. However, during the FIFA Congress in Sao Paulo on Wednesday, Blatter pitched in for a new mandate, hinting that he would stand contest to hold his position.
Meanwhile, the Football Association (FA) chairman Greg Dyke has echoed Platini’s comments and has asked Blatter to leave his current position.
“What Mr Blatter said yesterday I found offensive. I said [to him], ‘I regard the comments you made about the allegations in the British media in which you described them as racist as totally unacceptable,” Dyke explained.
“The allegations being made have nothing to do with racism, they are allegations about corruption within FIFA.”
“These allegations need to be properly investigated and properly answered. Mr Blatter, many of us are deeply troubled by your reaction to these allegations, it’s time for FIFA to stop attacking the messenger and instead consider and understand the message,” the FA Chairman added.
Will Blatter step down from his post or will he contest for fifth term of office for FIFA president is something that needs to be seen. Should he be forced to step down, the new president should get to the bottom of the racism allegations against Qatar.
The ongoing saga has damaged FIFA’s reputation when the 2014 World Cup kick starts on June 12 in Sao Paulo.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
