Zen Ruffinen Mulls FIFA Presidential Bid

(ATR) Former FIFA secretary general Michel Zen Ruffinen could enter the race to replace Sepp Blatter.

He told Reuters he was "studying the situation" after receiving some requests to be a candidate, without mentioning any names.

"I will monitor the situation, see how it develops in the next days and check the feasibility if it makes sense," said Zen Ruffinen.

The Swiss was FIFA's secretary general from 1998 to 2002. His departure from FIFA in 2002 was linked to his strong criticism of Sepp Blatter, who he accused of mismanaging FIFA’s finances ahead of the presidential election that year. Blatter went on to defeat Issa Hayatou in the Seoul election.

In 2010, Zen Ruffinen was caught up in the World Cup bidding cash-for-votes scandal when he was filmed by undercover Sunday Times reporters revealing that a number of the FIFA ExCo members were open to bribes.

In the Sunday Times sting operation, he offered his services as a fixer for the reporters who were posing as lobbyists for the USA 2022 World Cup, talking through a list of FIFA Ex-co names: "X is nice, he’s a nice guy, but X is money." Of another member, he said: "X, it’s money, we can go to [a city] and talk with him on a terrace no problem."

Another FIFA ExCo member Zen-Ruffinen described as "the biggest gangster you will find on earth", claiming the minimum fee that member would demand would be $500,000.

Defending his comments at the time, Zen-Ruffinen insisted that many of his remarks were "impressions" and "exaggerated" to spark the lobbyists’ interest. He told the newspaper he was "totally against" bribery and had only offered to make introductions.

With Blatter, Michel Platini and Jerome Valcke now suspended for 90 days, while Swiss authorities and the FIFA Ethics Committee investigate a series of corruption allegations, the race for the presidency of the world football federation is about to intensify.

Blatter and Platini deny wrongdoing and have lodged appeals. The UEFA presidentwas a frontrunner before becoming mired in allegations that he received a "disloyal payment" from FIFA in 2011.

South Korean former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon is out of the race after being slapped with a six-year ban for ethics violations related to his country’s 2022 World Cup bid.

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, who failed to oust Blatter in May, has now emerged as the favourite to succeed the 79-year-old at the FIFA presidential election scheduled on Feb. 26.

Blatter announced his resignation plan four days after winning a fifth mandate, as the biggest scandal in the federation’s history erupted. FIFA was plunged into crisis when 14 FIFA and corporate executives were indicted on corruption charges.

The FIFA deadline for presidential bid submissions, which must be endorsed by five football federations, is on Oct. 26.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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