#360view: Platini and UEFA cannot be sure of FIFA presidency success

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  • Politician: Michel Platini.

    Sepp Blatter is many things but he certainly isn’t stupid and there is a very good reason why he stood as FIFA president for 17 years, winning election after election, despite a raft of corruption allegations.

    The Swiss was determined to open the game out to the world and in doing so he made those footballing nations who once felt small and insignificant, strong and influential… and also, in many cases, rich.

    It’s an intoxicating combination and in Blatter’s world, tournaments were his currency: there have been World Cups awarded to Korea and Japan, South Africa, Russia and Qatar, each one gaining him more support in these areas of the world. Not to mention the Under-20 World Cup in the UAE, Canada, Egypt, Turkey and New Zealand; the Under-17 version in Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Nigeria and Mexico; and the women’s World Cup in China.

    These were beyond football’s traditional frontiers and while on the face of it helping grow the game, they also further cemented Blatter’s powerbase.

    By making these one-time ‘footballing backwaters’ feel important he was able to count on block votes from Africa (CAF), Asia (AFC), South America (CONMEBOL) and Oceania (OFC).

    So far there have been only two individuals declaring their interest in standing as his replacement: Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan and France’s David Ginola. The latter may again find it difficult to garner the necessary five nominations from fellow delegates to stand but they are interesting in the sense they are both either from or UEFA-backed candidates.

    Although based in the AFC, the groundswell of support for Prince Ali came from within Europe, with estimates around 30-40 of his 73 votes were from European nations.

    A third is surely soon to declare his candidacy in Michel Platini, and glancing down the bookmakers list of ‘favourites’ to be the next president the top 10 is filled out by Luis Figo (Portugal), Jerome Valcke (France), David Gill (England), Michael van Praag (Netherlands), Domenica Scala (Swiss-Italian) and Senes Ezrik (Turkey).

    It’s a European-dominated list, and while a lot can change between now and December or early next year, it implies the continent trying to take the power back.

    However, the landscape created by Blatter has made it hard for the Europeans. The rest of the world don’t trust UEFA and are worried about them reclaiming what they’ve been given over the last 17 years. And who can blame them?

    Platini knows this, he’s been part of the fabric of football administration for eight years now, and while he has slowly painted himself as a reformist and a Blatter alternative, the reality could be very different.

    Of course, he has the playing pedigree, an enticing prospect that is the polar opposite of Blatter, but there are some major red flags to suggest he will only maintain the status quo rather than launching a full-scale revolution.

    His voting for Qatar and the subsequent hiring of his son Laurent as chief executive of Qatar-owned sports company Burrda, will, fairly or unfairly, raise question marks.

    He even said himself in 2011 of Blatter that he’ll try “to help finish his mandate well, because it is for the good of the game”. Yet four years later he’s calling for his head. A Machiavellian mind is always something to be wary of.

    His revamp of the European Championships – taking a successful format and increasing the teams from 16 to 24 – is also a Blatter-esque tactic to appease/earn the trust and support of as many nations as possible. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. 

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