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UEFA calls for FIFA's presidential elections to be postponed
Joel Erickson
Roar Guru
28th May, 2015
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Sepp Blatter has actually been pretty good for football in Australia.
Joel Erickson
Roar Guru
28th May, 2015
3

UEFA has called for a postponement of the FIFA congress in the wake of Wednesday’s FIFA corruption scandal.

The statement pulled no punches, calling the arrests a “disaster for FIFA” and claiming that the men involved have “tarnish(ed) the image of football as a whole.”

Seven FIFA officials were arrested by Swiss authorities on behalf of the US Department of Justice, which has indicted a total of 18 people on bribery charges totalling more $150 million US dollars.

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» FIFA corruption scandal – who’s been arrested and what did they do
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» FIFA corruption scandal – latest updates

In a separate development, the Swiss attorney general also opened up criminal investigations into the awarding of both the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino has chastised FIFA, saying “these events show… that corruption is deeply rooted in FIFA’s culture.” He also calls for a complete ‘reboot’, saying that FIFA as a whole needs a complete reformation.

UEFA will hold meetings over the next two days to decide what their next move is with regards to the congress, with some believing that they may boycott the event. With 54 of FIFA’s 209 member nations contained within UEFA, a boycott would be a near death-knell for the legitimacy of any presidential vote.

Sepp Blatter was expected to retain his Presidency for a fifth straight term, with only Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan challenging for the top-job.

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UEFA’s motives may not be entirely altruistic however, as some media commentators are suggesting that their call for a postponement may just be an underhanded way to give their own president, Michel Platini, the time to nominate for the FIFA Presidency.

FIFA has said that the congress will go ahead as planned, and that they are fully co-operative with any investigation undertaken by both Swiss and American authorities.

For those interested, a full copy of UEFA’s statement can be found below:

Today’s events are a disaster for FIFA and tarnish the image of football as a whole. UEFA is deeply shocked and saddened by them. These events show, once again, that corruption is deeply rooted in FIFA’s culture. There is a need for the whole of FIFA to be ‘rebooted’ and for a real reform to be carried out.

The upcoming FIFA congress risks to turn into a farce and therefore the European associations will have to consider carefully if they should even attend this congress and caution a system, which, if it is not stopped, will ultimately kill football. The UEFA member associations are meeting tomorrow ahead of the FIFA congress. At that point, the European associations will decide on what further steps need to be taken to protect the game of football.

In the meantime, the members of the UEFA executive committee are convinced that there is a strong need for a change to the leadership of this FIFA and strongly believe that the FIFA congress should be postponed, with new FIFA presidential elections to be organised within the next six months.”

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