On Monday it was confirmed that the current President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, plans to stick around for a lot longer.
Blatter, 78, has already been in charge of soccer’s governing body since 1998 but the Swiss native plans to run for a fifth term.
[RELATED: Blatter wants presidential candidates]
Before his re-election for a fourth-straight term in 2011, Blatter said it would be his last in charge of FIFA. However, in a pre-recorded video of him speaking at the Soccerex conference in Manchester, Blatter confirmed he plans to lead FIFA into his 80s.
Here’s what the highly controversial figure, who has become a scapegoat among soccer fans across for the globe for all that is wrong with FIFA, had to say after revealing a FIFA congress in Sao Paolo back in June convinced him to stay on.
“You see a mission is never finished. And my mission is not finished,” Blatter said. “Then I got through the last Congress in Sao Paulo not only the impression but the support of the majority, a huge majority of national associations asking ‘Please go on, be our president also in future’.”
Blatter also stated that an “official declaration” will come “definitely in September now when we have the executive committee.” The committee meets on Sept. 25-26.
As we mentioned, Blatter and controversy have gone hand-in-hand during recent years. Blatter has tried members of his own executive committee amid allegations of bribery and corruption. Plus, he has made several high-profile mistakes along the way which are too numerous to list here.
Many would argue he is not the right man for the job, but who would want to do it? President of UEFA, Michel Platini, has long been the favorite to succeed Blatter but the Frenchman has already pulled himself out of the running for FIFA President. In effect, Blatter will have a free run at the FIFA presidency when it comes around next May.
Five out of the six FIFA confederations have supported him, with only Europe opposing his plans, so Sepp must be doing something right… Right?
