EU-JUNCKER/PLATINI FIFA presidential candidate Michel Platini meets EU's Juncker in Brussels

Record ID: 141244

  • Title: EU-JUNCKER/PLATINI FIFA presidential candidate Michel Platini meets EU's Juncker in Brussels
  • Date: 10th September 2015
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EU COMMISSION BUILDING EU FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 25th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA71FC4PU78C55MBARGGJTOVRVJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: UEFA president and FIFA presidential candidate Michel Platini met EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday (September 10) in Brussels.
    Platini announced on July 29 that he would stand as a candidate to replace outgoing president Sepp Blatter but he has given only one media conference since then, when he talked solely about UEFA matters.
    UEFA's executive committee are set to meet in Malta on Sept. 17-18. However, Platini, a former French international regarded as one of the most gifted players of his generation, is not scheduled to speak publicly.
    Sources close to Platini, who has been UEFA president since 2007 and was re-elected for a third term this year, have said that he will publish his manifesto in October.
    Former FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon of South Korea, ex-Brazil player Zico, former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder David Nakhid and Liberian FA chairman Musa Bility have also said they are running in the election. Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, beaten by Blatter in May's election, is considering another run while South African Tokyo Sexwale has also said he is weighing up whether to stand.
    Platini was once considered Blatter's protege and a natural successor to the 79-year-old Swiss. The two have become rivals in the last year, however, and Platini urged Blatter not to stand for a fifth term in May.
    Blatter was nevertheless elected for a fifth term at the congress but announced on June 2 that he would step down over a bribery scandal being investigated by U.S., Swiss and other law enforcement agencies that plunged FIFA into the worst crisis in its 111-year history. 14 sports marketing executives and soccer officials, including a number from soccer's governing body have been indicted though Blatter himself has not and he denies any misconduct.
    The scandal has cast a cloud over the forthcoming World Cups in Russia and Qatar, but Russian officials have dismissed any suggestion Russia could be stripped of the contest.
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