English FA back Platini’s FIFA presidency bid

(Reuters) - The English FA have thrown their weight behind Michel Platini’s bid to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president.

“We support Michel Platini’s candidacy,” FA chairman Greg Dyke said in a statement.

“We have a good relationship with him and hope he can gain the necessary global backing to lead a new FIFA during the most difficult period in its history.

“We understand there will be a number of candidates, which should result in a strong and healthy debate. However, we should not underestimate how challenging it will be for anyone to lead an organisation that has been so tainted. The whole structure of FIFA must be reviewed and fundamentally changed.”

Platini ended weeks of uncertainty yesterday when he announced that he would stand for the presidency of FIFA in place of outgoing Swiss Blatter.

The former France captain, the UEFA president since 2007 and a FIFA executive committee member since 2002, has written to the 209 member associations of FIFA, who each hold one vote in the presidential election, to inform them of his decision.

Dyke said Platini was the best man to bring about reform at world football’s scandal-plagued governing body.

“With FA vice-chairman David Gill newly-appointed to the FIFA executive committee and the level of worldwide scrutiny on the reform process, the opportunity is there to bring about positive change,” Dyke added.

“While we have yet to see Mr Platini’s manifesto, we believe he will fully support an ongoing reform process.”

Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as president on May 29, but four days later said he would lay down his mandate amid the worst crisis in FIFA’s history. Blatter will remain as president until the election on Feb. 26.

Once seen as a Blatter protege, Platini has recently become a leading critic of the 79-year-old. He urged Blatter not to stand for re-election in May and said the series of recent scandals involving FIFA turned his stomach. MOSCOW, (Reuters) - The Russian Basketball Federation (RFB) has been suspended by governing body FIBA, putting their participation in the 2016 Olympics in doubt.

The RFB published a letter from FIBA on their website yesterday stating that the Russian federation had been immediately disqualified from competition.

This comes after years of instability at the RFB, which culminated in a June court decision that forced the federation to hold new presidential elections.

The suspension, if still in place, will rule them out of the European Championship in September, which doubles as a qualifying competition for the Olympics.

“Russia’s participation in the European Championship in the autumn and the 2016 Olympics is under a real threat,” the honorary president of the RFB Sergei Chernov told TASS.

“We all need to think together how to find a way out of this situation. This includes the RFB, the sports ministry, the Russian Olympic Committee. They all need to think,” he added.

Yulia Anikeeva was elected the RFB’s president in August 2013, but the results of the vote were later contested and a court told the federation to hold new elections.

These are due to take place on Aug. 25 and former NBA player Andrei Kirilenko is set to stand as a candidate.

FIBA said in their letter that interference in the running of the RFB was behind their decision.

That claim was contested by Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who said they would be prepared to contest the suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“I will fly there myself to meet with them (FIBA) and take care of the situation. You can’t deal with Russia like this,” Mutko told TASS.

“We will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. I don’t see anything that could get in the way of this. Yes the situation is not very nice, but there is no interference.

“We live under the country’s laws. If the court implements a ruling, we need to enforce it. I can’t understand what the problem is.”

The RBF’s general secretary Andrei Arkhangelsky said that the organisation would have an opportunity to get the suspension reversed at a FIBA meeting in August.

“During FIBA’s Central Commission’s meeting in Tokyo from Aug. 8-9 we must try and find a way out of this situation. If this is approved by the federation, the disqualification will be rescinded,” he said.