The Malta FA have yet to declare whether or not they are throwing their weight behind UEFA chief Michel Platini’s pitch for the FIFA presidency but Gianni Infantino, the general secretary of the European football body, said yesterday that there is still time to discuss these matters.
Platini, who has been at the helm of UEFA since 2007, is gunning for the top job in world football after embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced his intention to step down.
Prince Ali bin Hussein, who was defeated by Blatter in the last election, has also rejoined the race, a scenario that has put the Malta FA in a somewhat awkward situation after the local body, along with several other European associations, had backed the Jordanian FA president at the last FIFA Congress.
“We have excellent relations with the MFA,” Infantino told a news conference yesterday following the UEFA Executive Committee meeting held at the Westin Dragonara Resort this week.
“There is time as the election is on February 26. Discussions are going on with all the national associations all over the world.
“Michel Platini is discussing with everyone.
“Our relationship with the MFA is excellent and there’s nothing we are worried or concerned about for the future.”
FIFA’s precarious situation in light of the on-going corruption scandal and the race to succeed Blatter inevitably dominated yesterday’s media briefing.
Infantino insisted that the FIFA presidency issue had not been on the agenda of this week’s Exco meeting which followed a two-day gathering of the Top Executive Programme (TEP) that was attended by the presidents and general secretaries of all the 54 national associations affiliated with UEFA.
The UEFA general secretary refrained from commenting on Prince Ali’s decision to run for FIFA president after he received the support of several European national associations in the last election, held in May.
Infantino said Platini was focusing on his own campaign.
“The matter was not specifically discussed in the meetings these days in Malta,” Infantino said.
“There is a FIFA election going on, the process has already started.
“Michel Platini, the UEFA president, has announced his candidacy and is receiving a lot of support for it.
“As he has always done, he (Platini) is focusing on his own candidacy, on his own programme and ideas for football.
“We have to go through the democratic process. I’d like to remind you that there’s no UEFA candidate that we supported before or after because it’s the national associations who elect the FIFA president.
“So obviously, if the president is a candidate, he’s not only a candidate of Europe, he’s a candidate for the world of football and has received public backing as well from different confederations.”
Infantino said UEFA were not involved in the consultation process that led FIFA to put general secretary Jerome Valcke on leave on Thursday night over allegations that he may have been involved in a deal to resell World Cup tickets for a lucrative profit.
With Platini widely seen as the stand-out candidate to succeed Blatter, Infantino was asked if he harboured ambitions to join FIFA if the UEFA president won the February 26 vote.
“I’m the UEFA general secretary and I’m happy here,” Infantino said.
“I’d like to keep focusing on UEFA matters rather than those of FIFA,” he added, an assertion that fuelled suggestions that Infantino would be interested in taking over from Platini if the latter becomes FIFA president.
Glowing praise
The Malta FA were lauded by Infantino who said that the organisation of the TEP and UEFA Exco meetings had been excellent.
“I want to thank Norman Darmanin Demajo (MFA president) and Bjorn Vassallo (general secretary) for the great organisation,” Infantino said.
“We have spent five days here as, apart from the Exco, we also organised a gathering of all the 54 presidents and general secretaries of the national associations within UEFA.
“The organisation has been excellent.
“We have been working with the MFA on many projects.
“I think that over the years we have managed to create a very positive climate, where everyone is included in the decision-making and everyone has their say, large or small, east or west.
“All voices are heard.
“Besides, Malta is very close to Italy, most of the people speak Italian and that further facilitates the relationship as both the president and I speak Italian.
“Malta is a small island but a football-crazy country. We are very much looking forward to strengthening this relationship with the MFA.”