By tradition, FIFA executive committee meetings provide little debate and conversation. Sometimes they only let a few rumors filter through. There are certainly things happening there, undoubtedly exciting, but nothing filters through. The latest one, Wednesday March 20 and Thursday March 21, was an exception. In two days, in Zurich, its members advanced pawns. And made it known.
First news: a possible limitation on the duration of the mandate of FIFA president, and the possibility of an age limit for being a candidate for the position, will have to be decided at the congress of the international football institution, scheduled for May in Mauritius. Joseph Blatter, in charge since 1998, has already made it known that he will not seek a new mandate in 2015. Clarification: the Swiss has just celebrated his 77th birthday.
Announced as his natural and legitimate successor, Michel Platini leaves doubt. He said this this week in an interview with a German magazine. “I don’t know what I will do,” he assured the biweekly Kicker. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time because everyone asks me that question. President Blatter announced that he was leaving. The position will therefore be free. For who? We'll see that. »
To date, no candidate has officially declared themselves. Michel Platini, the favorite, remains evasive. Jérôme Champagne, the former deputy secretary general of FIFA, assured AFP last December: “I have not decided that I will be a candidate and I have not decided that I will not be. » Finally, a third Frenchman, Jérôme Valcke, the current secretary general, also wanted to quell the rumors: “People talk a lot, sometimes in my name, but I have never made a statement to say that I was a candidate. »
Another “reform”: the executive committee decided that only candidates who had had an active role for at least the previous two years in a football federation could be eligible for the top position. A change which leaves the door open to the former number 10 of the Blues, at the head of UEFA since 2007.
Finally, the next FIFA congress should be marked by a feminization, admittedly timid, but nevertheless very significant, of its governance. The institution intends to open its executive committee to three women leaders: one woman will be elected and two others will be co-opted.
