Now that Sepp Blatter said that he "will be resigning, the race opens to succeed him as FIFA president," according to Harris & Blum of the AP.
The job "has been held by nine men since FIFA's founding in 1904, but just two over the past four decades: Joao Havelange of Brazil from 1974-98 and Blatter since then." An election "is expected to be held by an extraordinary FIFA congress between December and March." A look at possible candidates:
MICHEL PLATINI: Long expected to run for the FIFA job this year, Platini announced last August: "Now is not my time, not yet." He pushed last week for Blatter "to quit before the election." Because Europe holds only about one-quarter of the votes, Platini "would need to build alliances to win."
PRINCE ALI BIN AL-HUSSEIN: Prince Ali, 39, "would represent a two-generation change in leadership." He has been president of the Jordan FA since '99 and served on the FIFA exec committee from '11 until last week, "when he was replaced by Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait."
Prince Ali lost to Blatter 133-73 in Friday's vote, with "opposition coalescing behind him after Luis Figo of Portugal and Michael van Praag of the Netherlands withdrew."
ISSA HAYATOU: Hayatou, a Cameroonian who turns 69 in August, "has been the president of the Confederation of African Football since 1988 and has been on the FIFA executive committee since 1990." Hayatou "was reprimanded by the IOC" in '11 for receiving $20,000 in cash in '95 from FIFA's former marketing partner ISL. Hayatou "denied wrongdoing, but the IOC said he was guilty of a conflict of interest."
MICHAEL VAN PRAAG: The 67-year-old Dutchman was chairman of Ajax from '89-03, following his father Jaap, who chaired the team's board from '64-78. He became chairman of the Royal Dutch FA in '08 and "has been on the UEFA executive committee since 2009." He was nominated to run against Blatter but "withdrew a week before the election and supported Prince Ali" (AP, 6/2).
In London, Oliver Kay wrote Prince Ali and former player David Ginola "immediately announced their intention to run." Three more candidates are "expected to declare" with the strongest being Platini and Kuwaiti FIFA ExCo member Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah. Russian Football Union acting head Nikita Simonyan, "significantly, perhaps" immediately announced that Platini would be Russia's "preferred candidate" (LONDON TIMES, 6/3).
