Sepp Blatter will run for a fifth, four-year term as FIFA president.
Buoyed by a successful World Cup in Brazil and UEFA President Michel Platini opting not to stand in next year’s election, the 78-year-old Blatter believes he has the backing to win again.
“I will make an official declaration definitely in September now when we have the executive committee,” the Swiss official said in a pre-recorded interview shown Monday at the SoccerEx conference. “I will inform the executive committee. It’s a question of respect also to say then to the football family, ‘Yes I will be ready. I will be a candidate.'”
In response to FIFA’s worst corruption scandals, Blatter had pledged before his re-election in 2011 that his current term would be his last. But he had been edging toward another run ever since.
Blatter, who has been FIFA president since 1998, had previously stopped short of confirming his candidacy for the May election. Despite ongoing corruption scandals engulfing FIFA and opposition within UEFA, Blatter appears to have retained the support of most national federations.
“A mission is never finished, and my mission is not finished,” Blatter said. “I got (from) 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.'”
