FIFA President Sepp Blatter urged by UEFA not to seek re-election

European football leaders of FIFA’s governing body have urged current president Sepp Blatter not to seek re-election to his post, according to a report from the Kansas City Star.

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Blatter has been attempting to drum up support for a 2105 re-election bid, but has faced opposition from FIFA’s UEFA membership. The other five continents in FIFA’s membership have all given Blatter support.

UEFA executive committee member Michael van Praag and English Football Association President Greg Dyke both reportedly grilled Blatter during a closed-door meeting of Europe’s 54 football nations, and made it clear that the scandals and problems that have faced the group are becoming too much for them to deal with.

“People link FIFA to corruption and bribery and all kinds of old boys’ networks,” Van Praag told reporters after the conclusion of the meeting. “FIFA has an executive president and that means you are responsible,” the Netherlands federation president said he told Blatter. “People tend not to take you very seriously anymore.”

This isn’t exactly the kind of public face FIFA wants to be showing with their showcase event, the World Cup, about to get underway in Brazil.

England’s delegate on the UEFA board, David Gill, said he thought Blatter should go in 2015, stating, “Personally, yes, I think we need to move on.”

Blatter has served as the organization’s president since 1998, and had originally stated that this would be his final term serving in that capacity. He is the 8th president in FIFA’s history.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article514751/Blatter-urged-not-to-run-for-FIFA-presidency.html#storylink=cpy

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