Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) President Michel Platini has asked Sepp Blatter to withdraw as a candidate for re-election as International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) president.
“I have had enough—enough is enough, too much is too much,” the head of the European soccer governing body explained. “I am the first to be disgusted. I told Mr Blatter, ‘We started together and now I am asking you to step down as we cannot continue this way.'”
UEFA initially petitioned FIFA to push back its meetings and elections in light of Wednesday’s arrests of numerous FIFA officials on corruption charges. FIFA refused, and the congress continues this week and the elections take place on Friday. UEFA won’t boycott the elections. But it has switched its support from Blatter to Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) reaffirmed its support for FIFA’s embattled president.
“The AFC is still undergoing its own process of reform and has taken many concrete steps in the last two years to improve governance in the Confederation, whilst recognizing that there is still much work to do,” the group announced. “Furthermore, the AFC reiterates its decision taken at the AFC Congress in Sao Paulo in 2014, endorsed at subsequent Congresses in Melbourne and Manama in 2015, to support FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter.”