After Sepp Blatter announced his resignation as FIFA president, UEFA president Michel Platini became the biggest favourite for his successor, but he needed to show a convincing performance, especially to convince Africans.
France and Europe are happy to see UEFA President Michel Platini become president at the next FIFA special session, provided of course that Platini decides to run, which now seems obvious. Platini was one of the greatest players in the history of football, and his eight years as president of UEFA have also achieved a lot, which has been very beneficial to his candidacy for FIFA presidency. While most of Platini's cronies want him to remain president of UEFA until the end of his term in 2019, they will also be fully supportive if Platini decides to run for FIFA president. In Africa, however, Platini's popularity is less than satisfactory, and on other continents, it is also a mixture of jade. South America was skeptical of him, but his Latin status gave him some advantage. In Asia, Platini had many friends, but his potential rival, kuwaiti Ahmed Sabah, was also from Asia. North America and Oceania showed neutrality in the FIFA presidency campaign. If Platini wants to conquer the world of football, he will have to go through many traps.
【European perspective, leading actor】
Without any academic qualifications, Platini gained a foothold in UEFA with his natural leadership qualities. He started in Nancy, passing through Saint-Etienne and Juventus, serving as the head coach of the French team, and then entering the Organizing Committee of the 1998 World Cup in France, experiencing many ups and downs along the way. In 2007 he took the throne from Swede Lennart Johansson by just four votes, and soon after taking office he quelled opposition within UEFA. In the space of weeks, he dismantled the G14, which was created in 2000 to counter UEFA's 14 top giants, and demanded reforms to European club competitions to give more policy tilts to small European countries without harming the interests of soccer powers. He also implemented fiscal fairness policies to safeguard the financial health of professional football, and last season's Middle Eastern shareholders at Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City were punished. Under his leadership, UEFA has made a lot of money, with 1.34 billion euros in TV rights in the Champions League and Europa League this season, and will climb to 2.24 billion next season! At first, the English-speaking forces of UEFA were hostile to Platini, but he knew how to win the trust of his enemies, so much so that now we don't know whether there are opponents of Platini within UEFA. He has been following the movements of Ángel Bilal, the president of the Spanish Football Association, who is closely related to Blatter, and Wolf's ambition German Wolfgang Nielsbach. He also knows how to control the zeal of inner reforms so as not to clash with European soccer powers and to constantly improve his diplomatic skills that he is not good at. If he decides to strike at the fifa presidentship, the whole of UEFA will stand behind him.
【North American view, the victory is very large】
After Blatter announced his resignation as FIFA president, Platini's name appeared on major American television stations. Undoubtedly, in the eyes of Americans, Platini is far more likely to be Blatter's successor than Jordanian Prince Ali bin Hussein, who lost previous elections. Although the latter is respected by most local media. And the U.S. media is more concerned about the development of the World Cup bribery scandal than the competition for FIFA's presidency.
【South American view, with a commandment】
No one doubts that once Platini becomes FIFA president, the organization will be Europe-centric. Because of this, South Americans, who have always been disgusted with "Anglo-Saxons", are worried that Britain will take advantage of the rise of European power within FIFA to jointly create momentum with the United States. Latinos were particularly reluctant to see football detached from the common people and become the entertainment of the rich, as was happening in England, where the doors of super-advanced stadiums were opened only for a few. Harold Mina Nichols, former president of the Chilean Football Association, became a representative of the reform forces in the Americas. The Chilean, who served at FIFA from 1993 to 2012, carried out a deep reform of his country's football, cleaning up the FA's accounts and attracting Argentine Marcelo Bielsa to the manager of the Chilean national team, a series of moves that revitalized the development of governance football. If a few months ago he was preparing to run for FIFA presidency, now he is watching how things go. But whether or not Nichols ran for the final race, he could not get the unanimous support of south American countries that had been devastated by the FIFA scandal. Unlike Nichols, Brazilian Zico and Argentine Maradona have both publicly offered to compete for the presidency, though it seems unlikely that they will be in trouble for big hit Platini.
【African Perspective】
With 54 votes in hand, Africa has become a force to be reckoned with in the FIFA presidency. If Platini wants to succeed Blatter, he must first dispel the bad image he created at his recent press conference. His fierce attacks on "friend of the African people" Blatter and the "Eurocentrism" have upset African footballers. Constant Omari, a member of fifa's executive board and president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, admitted: "Platini is my friend, but at the banquet I pointed out bluntly to him: the attitude of european football federations is different from that of other football associations in the world, but in the presidential election, it is not only Europeans who have the final say!" "Omari's message was straightforward.
Bukkari Sidibé, vice-president of the Mali Football Federation, said even more bluntly: "If Platini had been courageous, he would have called on everyone to support Prince Ali (Blatter's opponent, president of the Jordanian Football Association), but he feared defeat." Blatter has done a lot for African football through the Goal Project. I will try against Platini, although I appreciate him when the player is there. I will do my best to organize him to be president, Platini is not the antidote to the world of football. His recent public remarks have had an impact on him. He said that the center of football is Europe, but is Messi, the best player in the world, a European? We think he's a bit overdone. I know he has friends in Africa and will take advantage of our contradictions, but make no mistake about it: African brothers are united. He needs to speak on the Executive Committee during the campaign. This may be a moment that is not easy to survive. ”
UEFA and AFC do have serious differences in thinking, and Joseph-Anthony Bell, who knows a lot about it, stresses: "The way Platini speaks is shocking, it betrays a way of thinking. He is attacking the less developed countries. Football is the only pure land where every country is equal, and FIFA has a universality that the United Nations does not have. Platini needs to know that outside of Europe, there are people who think differently. "In English-speaking Africa, this sense of racial superiority is not feasible. The president of the Ghana Football Association, Quessi Nyantakhoi, insisted: "I don't feel that the European candidates can get enough support from Asia and Africa. The reforms introduced by UEFA are only for self-interest and stifle the development of football in Africa. They want to propose in FIFA's executive board a limit on the number of African players playing in Europe. It's unacceptable that we feel they're trying to strengthen themselves and weaken others. ”
【Asian and Oceanian perspectives, friend and foe】
Asia holds 46 votes in the FIFA presidency, which is also the force that Platini must fight for. Paradoxically, Platini must face challenges from Asia again, and Kuwaiti Sabah has never hidden his ambitions for the FIFA presidency, which will meet in July to discuss coping strategies. Japan Football Association President Kunimya Ōhito and Vice Chairman Kozo Tajima also revealed that they would meet with Platini. In the Middle East, UAE FA President Yusuf Selkar is a die-hard fan of Platini: "Platini is the right person. He played football with a wide range of names, had a great deal in UEFA and had a great deal of success in governance, and now was the right time for him to join FIFA. ”
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