|
 Blatter also took a swipe at European soccer federation UEFA, who he
said had blocked the proposal by German FA president Wolfgang
Niersbach.
"Wolfgang Niersbach from Germany, has put forward a motion I
support,' the Swiss wrote in his column in FIFA Weekly Magazine.
"(He) has proposed an independent integrity check for all members of
the most important FIFA Committees.
"In doing so, Niersbach has broached a subject that
has so far been blocked by UEFA of all associations. Better late
than never.
"The message he has thereby sent out must apply to everyone:
only together can we continue to drive the process of reform
forward.
"That is something I will stand for until my final day in office."
Following the arrests of high-ranking FIFA officials in Zurich last
month, Blatter was re-elected as president for a fifth term on May
29 but days later announced he would step down and an extraordinary
congress would find his successor.
FIFA's Executive Committee will meet in Zurich on July 20 to decide
on a date to find Blatter's successor.
In his column, Blatter did not address reports he might change his
mind about stepping down and stand for re-election.
He said Niersbach's proposal would be discussed at the July 20
meeting but sidestepped the German's call to end the one-country,
one-vote system used to elect the president.
Currently, each of FIFA's 209 member associations has one vote in
the presidential election, meaning that countries such as Germany
and Brazil have the same voting power as tiny nations such as
Liechtenstein and Antigua.
[to top of second column] |
Conversely, Blatter said more power over the governance of global
soccer should be concentrated in Asia and Africa -- blocs where he
has traditionally relied on strong support -- in the form of more
representation on an expanded Executive Committee.
"The key is to strengthen democracy within the 'FIFA government',"
he said.
"The fact that CAF, the African confederation boasting 54 members
and the AFC, the Asian confederation with 46 members, only have five
and four delegates respectively in the 25-person FIFA Executive is
contradictory to this notion of democracy.
"However, I am reluctant to take places away from anyone; there
should not be a redistribution of seats on the Executive Committee
but a commensurate expansion of this body."
Blatter also repeated his call for more women on the ExCo, saying
FIFA was not a "men-only" club.
Burundi's Lydia Nsekera sits alone as a female full member of the
ExCo -- the only woman in the 111-year history of the organization
to attain that post.
(Writing by Rex Gowar and Ian Ransom; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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