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 Chung, the 63-year-old billionaire scion of South Korea's Hyundai
industrial conglomerate, told Reuters in an interview he would make
a formal announcement next month in Europe, which he called "the
center of world football".
"I am going to stand as a candidate for the FIFA presidency," he
said, acknowledging he had a tough fight ahead of him. "It's not
easy, but people don't want to be part of corruption. They want to
be part of the solution."
"We cannot leave FIFA in this kind of disgrace."
Chung said he did not yet have the required backing of five FIFA
federations that would allow him to stand, but he was confident of
getting the support he needed.
"I hope to have more than five nominations," he said, adding he had
received assurances of support from within CONCACAF on a recent trip
to the United States. CONCACAF is the ruling body for soccer in
North and Central America and the Caribbean.
CONTINUITY ... AND CHANGE
While UEFA chief Michel Platini, 60, appears to be the strong
favorite to succeed Blatter, with four of the six FIFA
confederations reportedly backing him, Chung said the Frenchman was
not the right person for the job.
"He's a good person, I like him very much, but if you ask me if this
is a good time for Michel to become president of FIFA, right after
Sepp Blatter, I don't think this is good news for FIFA and I don't
think it's good for Michel either."
While Chung was outlining his plans to become Asia's first FIFA
president, the region's soccer chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim gave
a ringing endorsement to Platini, "a unique candidate who would
bring stability and a smooth transition to normality for FIFA in
this difficult situation."
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has been a staunch supporter
of Blatter, and Chung said it was beyond its mandate to back a
non-Asian candidate. "Asian people did not elect them to that post
to recommend another continent's person for that kind of job," he
said.
Chung, who headed the Korea Football Association from 1993 to 2009 -
during which time South Korea co-hosted the World Cup finals with
Japan - lost his seat on FIFA's executive committee in 2011 to
then-Blatter ally Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
While there have been growing calls for an influx of fresh faces at
FIFA, Chung said his departure from the governing body four years
ago made him the perfect candidate.
"We need new blood at FIFA, but we also need continuity and change.
The fact that I left four years ago was a kind of blessing."
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"I understand FIFA very well, I also have the experience of running
a national federation. Michel does not have that kind of experience,
so I think I am qualified to invite change while preserving the
strength of FIFA at the same time."
GO NOW, SEPP
Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president on May 29,
but four days later he said he would lay down his mandate amid the
world crisis in the body's history. He will stay on until the
election on Feb. 26.
Chung said Blatter should go now, adding he feared the Swiss might
try to sabotage his campaign as Chung was a vocal critic of Blatter
during his 17 years as FIFA vice president.
"The most important reform for FIFA is to have a fair election, and
in order to have a fair election President Blatter and General
Secretary Jerome Valcke should step down immediately," Chung said.
"I'm afraid President Blatter has a kind of plan to damage my
candidacy, but if he tries to do something bad to my candidacy I
will try to fight that," he added.
Valcke, an often-outspoken Frenchman, has given strong hints that he
will leave his job when Blatter is replaced.
In late May, federal prosecutors in New York indicted nine soccer
officials, most of whom held or had held FIFA positions, and five
sports media and promotions executives in schemes involving $150
million in bribes over a period of 24 years.
Prosecutors said their investigation exposed complex money
laundering schemes, millions of dollars in untaxed income and tens
of millions of dollars in offshore accounts held by the soccer
officials.
(Reporting by Peter Rutherford; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
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