Blatter forced to listen as rivals slam his leadership of Fifa

FIFA president Sepp Blatter was forced to sit through some stinging criticism of his leadership as his three rivals addressed an audience of European football leaders at the UEFA Congress yesterday.

Blatter sat stony-faced as Michael van Praag, Luis Figo and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan outlined their plans for soccer's governing body.

The Swiss had earlier addressed Con- gress as FIFA president but had declined to give a campaign speech.

Van Praag was the most outspoken, saying there was a responsibility to “clean up the mess”.

“I simply cannot accept that we leave FIFA in its current shape for the next generation,” he said.

“The beautiful heritage of international football has been tarnished by ever- continuing accusations of corruption, bribery, nepotism and waste of money.

“The current state of disarray asks for a change in leadership. I cannot look away. It is the responsibility of our generation to clean up the mess.”

In another dig at Blatter, who has been in office since 1998 and is bidding for a fifth term, Van Praag said he would only stay in charge for one four-year mandate.

“Effective change is simply impossible under the leadership of the same person who is responsible for the state FIFA is in,” he said.

“I have absolutely no ambition to become the next president who stays in office for 20 years. I want to be FIFA president for only four years... to start the normalisation process towards a more open, democratic and credible FIFA.” – Reuters