(ATR) Honorary FIFA vice president Chung Mong-Joon says he will clean the sport of football if elected president of FIFA.
Chung blames the previous president Sepp Blatter for the recent corruption scandals which have cast shadows over the sport and its organizing body.
''The real reason FIFA has become such a corrupt organization is because the same person and his cronies have been running it for 40 years. Absolute power corrupts absolutely,'' Chung said.
Chung gave these criticisms of the current FIFA regime and announced his bid to enter the FIFA presidential race while in Paris on Monday.
He believes he could bring transparency and fairness back to FIFA.
"The FIFA president must be a crisis manager and a reformer. He must be more than just a head of the technical department. After decades of an ever-widening circle of corruption, FIFA needs a leader who can bring back common sense, transparency and accountability," Chung said.
Chung joins Michael Platini in the race for football’s top job. Former Brazilian coach and footballer Zico has also announced his intention to run.
Platini is considered by many to be the favorite to replace Blatter. Platini has been an executive committee member for 13 years and was a long-time supporter of Blatter. His views of the embattled president have changed following corruption allegations.
Chung says a change from Blatter’s inner-circle is necessary, saying Platini and Blatter shared a "father-son" relationship while working together. He also criticizes Platini’s shift in attitude toward Blatter.
''It has suddenly become very fashionable to be Blatter's enemy. This is too convenient.''
Another candidate considering joining the race is Prince Ali bin al-Hussein. Prince Ali ran against Blatter earlier in the year for the position of president but lost by a wide margin. Blatter announced his plans to step down as president just a few days later.
All candidates must express interest to FIFA by an October 26 deadline. Candidates will then campaign for four months to earn the support and votes of the 209 national federations within FIFA.
The election will take place at an extraordinary FIFA congress on February 26.
Written by Kevin Nutley
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
