FA Offer Support to ‘Credible Challengers’ of Blatter Re-election

The Football Association (FA) have announced that they will back any credible challengers to Sepp Blatter’s re-election campaign to become FIFA president for a fourth term in June, senior FA figures have revealed.

The FA board is yet to take an official position on the vote as Blatter seeks a fourth term but members are said to feel it is time for a change.

One FA member claimed that they would even consider writing to Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam to urge him to stand against Blatter, stating: “We would consider contacting him to offer our support. We think three terms is enough.”

An FA spokesman added: “The matter has not been discussed but will be considered by the FA board when nominations have closed and the FIFA congress agenda has been published.”

The FA reacted angrily to England’s treatment during their bid to host the 2018 World Cup, claiming promises were broken by a number of ExCo members. They also felt that they were strung along in the bidding process once FIFA revealed that they had intended to promote the game in new territories after awarding the 2018 and 2022 editions to Russia and Qatar respectively.

Bin Hammam is a former ally of the 75-year-old FIFA president, but the 61-year-old has hinted that he might stand against him after revealing some concerns regarding the way the organisation is run amidst corruption allegations.

In his most recent comments about the FIFA presidential elections, Bin Hammam said on his Facebook account that “competition is the best way to make the organisation vibrant and alive”.

Sepp Blatter announced last year that he would be running for a record fourth term and stated on Saturday, March 5: “We are now in an elected process and the race is open. I have received support from different national associations to stand again.

“If I win then OK, if lose I say ‘thank you’ then go away. You will have your new face and then we will see what will happen.”

The FIFA president went on to add that he was not happy with the way his organisation got its message across, saying: “I’m not happy with what we do, because we could communicate a bit better [than] what we are doing and then the perception would be different.

“I’m trying to bring some social and cultural impact. If there are some other candidates then we will face other candidates. That’s a democratic system.

“The world will not stop and football will not stop.”